Three Pleasures by Lola Haskins

Coffee

The day you learned to love bitterness,
you were sure you were grown.

*

Flowers

Older, you set flowers in clear water as if
with enough kindness, they would not fade.

*

Desire

The din of thousands of wanting cranes
informs your winter steps. You count

on them like husbands, every dawn.
Then one morning, they are gone.

—

Lola Haskins’ most recent poetry collection is How Small, Confronting Morning (Jacar, 2016). Her prose work includes an advice book and a book about Florida cemeteries. Among her honors are the Iowa Poetry Prize and two Florida Book Awards. She serves as Honorary Chancellor of the Florida State Poet’s Association.