2 June 2009 | Vol. 9, No. 2
June Meditations
Start with a bird—a blue heron
coasting over the reservoir—
and a tree—a loblolly pine,
planted for paper and pulp,
dropping its rusty needles.
What does it take to be awake
in this particular world?
To be called is to be culled
from the thousands, to vow
to be eye- and ear-opened.
Start again with the confluence
of two rivers—a violent togethering
brought on by gravity and eons
of geologic sift and shift.
What does the one called forth
demand of the world?
Start here with the field
of strawberries and the flock
of blackbirds laying siege.
The one heart-shaped
fruit plucked and eaten
in advance is enough.
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About the author:
Sandy Longhorn is the author of Blood Almanac (Anhinga 2006), winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Free Verse, Indiana Review, New South, Quarterly West, Redactions, West Branch, and elsewhere. She has received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council as well.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Sandy Longhorn at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 9, No. 2, where "June Meditations" ran on June 2, 2009. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
