Petrified artichoke;
miniature pineapple;
flowerless bud;
raccoon’s shuttlecock;
scepter of seeds;
mosquitoes’ drinking cup;
snout of the bear
that follows you home;
Fibonacci’s dreamscape;
3-D mandala;
missile launched
by squirrel or owl;
nature’s prayer wheel
hunted by children
with sap-sticky fingers;
many-tongued mantra;
tiny Phoenix
opening its wings
in the fire.
– Gwen Hart
Gwen Hart teaches writing at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Her second poetry collection, The Empress of Kisses, won the X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize from Texas Review Press.