Beautiful Vagabonds
I am not the piston in the flower or The bulging seed throttled by pollen But a separate figure expectant and Cupped by the shape palms make Holding sumptuously to the fragile Killings – crickets, bees, and moths The soulful water strider apparently Impervious to deep mirrored waters And the lotus lilies rooted in mire Look up at me Look into me I am the wind-loving swallow Lighter than the air itself Rippling my whole transience Renascent by the threat of rain --by Desi Di Nardo
Previously published in the September 2008 Arts & Culture issue of Our Neighbourhood Magazine.
Desi Di Nardo’s work has been published in numerous North American and international journals and anthologies, performed at the National Arts Centre, featured in Poetry on the Way on the Toronto Transit Commission, selected by Canada’s Parliamentary Poet Laureate, and displayed in the Official Residences of Canada. See www.desidinardo.com
Copyright ©2008, by Desi Di Nardo. All Rights Reserved.
Beautiful. Resplendent imagery, enhanced by conciseness of expression. This is the kind of effect I aim for in my own work and all too seldom miss…
correction to my above post- all too seldom _achieve_.
Note the reference to the lotus hinting at how it is such a powerful symbol for riverine communities specifically and hence generally for the poet’s eco-friendly confidence and optimism, however much such positive feelings are tinged by “a threat” and by sadder thoughts of “fragile / Killings.” Hope persists in face of everpresent danger, a truism beautifully oriented here into the poem’s shaping of images and emotions and the bright abudance and play of them.
Please forgive the misspelling in the final phrase of my comment; the word should, of course, be “abundance.”
Robert and Tony, thanks for your excellent comments. I’m sure Desi really appreciates them.