Garden escapees—thanks to
birds, insects, wind, and human hands,
They settle in the wild and breed,
whether intentionally or not.
I have never been one to like the taming
of a tiger.
I have never felt the need to stay put.
How else would we ever understand the need
to return?
Let the bees buzz. Let them travel the winds,
Fulfill every desire. Honey the day
Like the sun and all it seeks—these Tiger Lilies
slanting towards it, opening
Their bodies all curves and turns
returning, always returning
to the need, the seed
they carry within.
Poem by Julia Klatt Singer
Julia Klatt Singer is a painter and poet. She works in watercolor, acrylics, and oil and her work can be found on Instagram (@juliaklattsinger) and in her Etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/juliapaintsshop).
She is co-author of Twelve Branches: Stories from St. Paul, (Coffee House Press), author of In the Dreamed of Places, (Naissance Press), A Tangled Path to Heaven, Untranslatable, (North Star Press), and Elemental (Prolific Press) poems written to the periodic table. Audio poems from Elemental are at OpenKim (https://openkim.org/), as the element Sp.
She’s co-written numerous songs with composers Craig Carnahan, Jocelyn Hagen, and Tim Takach. She is the poet in residence at Grace Neighborhood Nursery School.