Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 1V, by Bruce Bennett

Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, by Georgia O'Keeffe (USA) 1930

Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 1V
 
At first glance it’s a stark and shocking face:
Green hood (or hair) like large leaves. Black. No eyes.
A giant nostril (or is that a mouth?)
That rises to a blade with a sharp point.
One feels one’s being stared at. Such a stare
Is disconcerting! What of one is seen?
And can that be evaded? Held and probed,
The viewer may be daunted, and recoil.
 
Or may continue gazing. If a flower,
Its mystery’s intact. It’s deep and dark,
Yet may not be the hostile force one feared.
It may indeed be friendly, even known,
If one can just gaze long enough, and give
Oneself to what, perhaps, is gazing back.

Bruce Bennett

​Bruce Bennett is author of ten books of poetry and more than thirty chapbooks.  His most recent chapbook is Images Into Words (The Dove Block Project, 2022), a collection of ekphrastic poems co-authored with poet Jim Crenner. Bennett was a founder and editor of the journals Field and Ploughshares, and from 1973-2014 taught Literature and Creative Writing and directed the Visiting Writers Series at Wells College. In 2012 he was awarded a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Aurora, New York. His poetry website is https://justanotherdayinjustourtown.com.