Annie Stenzel Free-range Poet
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Annie Stenzel
Free-range poet

Shelter. Cage.

Somebody made it elliptical, not angular:
Things that start one-where end
elsewhere. You keep trying, even if thwarted
when, on a grey day, the sun won’t work
as a talisman. Might as well be in a maze.
 
Trumpetvine, wisteria, plus princess flower.
Bougainvillea, with its irksome papery tidbits
dusting the ground. Jasmine that startles you
when its musky hints appear. And what a bother:
the tiny pink rose is mostly eclipsed, too high to see.
 
What do you think you are doing here,
behind such a complex hedge? A gardener
deals with the tangle, but what a strange
idea it was to cluster these motley plantings
around the patio. And then allow a serpent of ivy in.



"Shelter. Cage." was first published in rust + moth.
Image: NASA, ESA, and STScI
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  • Home
  • My first collection
  • My second collection
  • Journal publications
  • Bio
  • *PRIVACY POLICY*
  • Contact
  • A few places I love