Trying to translate the wildflowers
as they bow
from sap & sepal, wiry stalk
& petal to some alphabet
of practical sounds, I raise
a paean to seedhusk & starburst of thistle,
the architecture of spathe
& umbrel, stigma & pistil.
I praise the eloquence
of a sweetpea's banner
& crest of the bog iris
white beneath the black willow's green
canopy & snood. I trust the recitation
of category, hungers & habitat
in both slang & Linnean Latin
to sweep me now from shadow
into the core of the matter,
where vervain & rosebay,
motherwort, onion & pine hyacinth
cushion my knees.
In fresh sunlight I yearn
to spy one stalk
of moth mullein
advertising its anther,
calling with ultraviolet
radiance in bright vernaculars
no vertical mammal can see
in order to lure the pollen-hunger
& five sacred hearts
of the common and marvelous honeybee.
R. T. Smith
Copyright © 1998 by Chelsea Associates, Inc.
Chelsea 64
40th Anniversary Issue
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.