Planisphere Q, Spring 2021
Theme: Sight
Say What You See
Obscenities
If you only see
a pile of rock
rising into mountain
say what you see.
Leave embellishment
to storytellers
to history-makers.
The mountain in action
speaks for itself
festoons its peaking
with the medium
of nature
pronounces connection
to that real and solid
something in ourselves
allowing the stars
overhead their place
in the heavens
the wind through its trees
its voice in the world.
What we cannot see
we will imagine
ever worse,
the fait accompli, hidden,
fully stopped.
Numbers, exclamations, percentages, asterisks --
propagated by lockdowns refined naiveté grows into
flowers running wild
infiltrating stands of trees
with atrocious verdure,
adding fresh color to common phrases
flares hovering over stories
saying pay attention
this is the moment.
May our eyes not be shielded
from such beauty.
The Things I Can Now See Without You
I saw an indigo bunting today
and thought of you.
Of how I know birds make you happy
and how I wished happiness came as easily to me.
How life thrives when we see things
we usually fail to see
Like impossibly blue birds
Or those heart gems: the people
I would be lesser for not having known.
That my shirt was on inside out
My collar folded in
Or the delightful strangeness of euphorbia
Eagles perched on highway posts
Flowers growing out of rocks.
Yes, today I saw this bird
and I had to let you know
I’m learning to notice things
though I no longer share it all with you.