Poetry
Susan Wilkinson For Unsplash+
Initiation to Flight
an anxiety dream
Standing amid the death-censors
“You cannot succumb to Thanatos
all for all”, I said to them to ward off
their collective suicide. Unheard.
In green fusion with the green leaf
insensitive were they to the transformation
into their chrysalis instar but projected
their death-wish on the butterfly pollinator. Blinded.
From a translucent dome-shaped egg
attached to the epidermis of the serrated leaf
rough as sandpaper to the human touch
the larva attains the dynamics of the caterpillar
mulching on chlorophyll. Linked to a leaf
by a silken girdle, shattered cells swim
in the green plasma boosting the butterfly’s
antennae for the immanent flight. Yet,
they stood stunned in the sunlight
like fallen leaves exhaling vital oxygen
through their stomata but scarce was oxygen
within the Thanatos-projectors.
Perennity
A sudden gust and two crested
jays fly out in indigo silk-streaks
from the cedar’s canopy.
The cedar exhales malt-and-
mint scented sepia pollens
through its western wafts.
Perched on the tapestry
of the yeast-moss, the Turdus
court each other in perennity.
The Gauzed Interior
In the pastel-patina of summer
we are drawn into the chiaroscuro
planes of the painter’s studio.
The bright light seeping in
through an outer door illuminates
father and daughter – then, shifts
to form fleeting shadows
projected on the floor
and the wooden chairs.
Like the philodendron
in the opalescent water, the mother leans
to hug her wiggling black dog
while the waterlily extends
an elongated stem towards immortality
and the teal bookcase.
In the pastel patina of summer
a subdued light suffuses
the amber-lit perspective.