by persis flores
We Want Poetry to Change Us
After the rain it’s hard to explain
how green the holly rests in itself,
the elephant ears waiting to brush
your hand. We’re here on the patio
while, below, the tender trims
and pulls, igniting desire for plants
to grow, deciding if, when, and weather:
like Shakespeare’s ivy or low visibility
on Mexico’s steamy days, a rising mist
after rainstorms. From the perspective
of our dark table, we’ve all taken
to the moist yard, jungles of bougainvillea
by the once-barren wall. There’s a smile
on his face shaped by last night’s pizza
or moon-faced dinnerplates. But he grins
to everyone, as impartial as poinsettia,
avocado, Mexican sycamore, and just
as blithe. When nature crushed upon him,
river boulders flung toward the bay,
but now removed from all the trauma,
he will party by the river tonight
with families and whole red snapper
on sticks. We hug our coffee mugs,
curling in openness, waving in our bliss
of poetry without words.
Jan Wiezorek writes from southwestern Michigan and walks regularly along McCoy Creek Trail. He is author of the poetry chapbook Prayer’s Prairie (Michigan Writers Cooperative Press) and the forthcoming chapbook Forests of Woundedness (Seven Kitchens Press). Wiezorek’s poetry has appeared in The London Magazine, Vita Poetica, BlazeVOX,and Feral, among other journals. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and an awardee of the Poetry Society of Michigan. Visit janwiezorek.substack.com.
persis flores writes more than she talks. she practices a poetics of attention to people, to expressions, to everyday gestures rooted in meaning and care. her attempts at photography, poetry, and music are her micro-routes to learning more about the world and herself. she intentionally gets lost, allowing herself to flow between pages, photos, poems, and percussion to recharge her soul’s battery. “creation is the language of purpose” is the mantra she lives by — and the one she hopes will be etched on her epitaph someday https://linktr.ee/persisflores https://hellopersis.com/about/ https://substack.com/@persisflores https://www.instagram.com/persisflores