Shards, by t. m. thomson

Black Hollyhock, Blue Larkspur, by Georgia O'Keeffe (USA) 1929

​
Shards 

See where the petals     blue and black
nuzzle each other’s curves
curves that fit together
like hill and sky

Larkspur offers stems that bear
weight     hold hollyhock 
to earth    encourage hedonism
of leap and gambol     pulsate 
and shiver 
when wind strikes

Hollyhock brings a starfish-
shaped galaxy in layers of algae
rosette    cloud     blaze
steadies centre
for larkspur’s entry
into its umbra and flash

There is a moment     in between
where a tendril of shiraz
curls into shadow--
a crepuscular pause
before the delusion of two
shatters
                        into shards of night

t.m. thomson

This poem first appeared on Lexington Poetry Month’s website, June 2019.

t.m. thomson’s work has most recently appeared in io Literary Journal and The Athena Review, and will  be featured in upcoming issues of Darkhouse Books, Whispering Prairie Review, and Redheaded Stepchild.   Three of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Awards: “Seahorse and Moon” in 2005, “I Walked Out in January” in 2016, and “Strum and Lull” in 2018.  She has co-authored Frame and Mount the Sky, a chapbook of ekphrastic poetry (2017) and is author of  Strum and Lull (2019) and The Profusion (2019). She has a writer’s page at  https://www.facebook.com/TaunjaThomsonWriter/.