I want to hold your hand  
in a meadow in August 

just so you can see  
the flowers that made me 

into this kind of hopeful.  
The kind that buzzes  

before the bee comes— 
the kind that moves  

out of the way  
for deer. Singing.  

I won’t nudge you  
into romance. I know   

the flowers are shining  
in my eyes like honey.  

Audrey Gidman is a queer poet living in Maine. She serves as assistant poetry editor for Gigantic Sequins and an editor for Newfound's Emerging Poets Chapbook Series. Her chapbook, body psalms, winner of the Elyse Wolf Prize, is forthcoming from Slate Roof Press.