(Dwight Sipler / Flickr)

 

Sky clear after rain,
alleviating six weeks of drought;
sunny, with a hint of coolness
in the shadows beside the barn

and under the trees, speckled
with fringe of fleabane;
the orb weaver web on the porch,
sticky with spiral capture silk,

containing another victim—
a praying mantis wrapped in
a winding sheet; and
the Queen Anne’s lace bending

in the meadow under the weight
of a heavy dew.

Wally Swist’s books include Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love (Southern Illinois University Press, 2012), Evanescence: Selected Poems, Taking Residence, and A Writer’s Statements on Beauty: New & Selected Essays & Reviews (Shanti Arts, 2020, 2021, 2022). His poetry and translations have appeared in Asymptote, Chicago Quarterly Review, Commonweal, the Montréal Review, Poetry London, and Rattle.

Also by this author

Please email comments to [email protected] and join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Published in the June 1, 2019 issue: View Contents
Topics
© 2024 Commonweal Magazine. All rights reserved. Design by Point Five. Site by Deck Fifty.