Stripped, by Devon Balwit

Turdus Merula Magnolia, by Arie van ’t Riet (Netherlands). Contemporary. Click on image for artist website.

Stripped

He tries taxidermy animals first, 
             but the wires 

that shape their batting 
             make a poor substitute, 

for bones, not all armatures artful.  
             Better are road kill, 

dead but inexplicably whole, able 
              to partner blooms 

without shame, skeletons as graceful 
              as stamen and anther.  

The animals seem stunned 
              to stillness 
    
by their exposed joints, as naked 
              as Adam and Eve 

before God’s surgical gaze.  
              The artist chooses 

not to return to them
               any colour, finding 

in their hinges decoration enough.
               Embarrassed by lack, 

they cede the focus
                to their rooted cousins, 

finally humbled 
                by stem, leaf, and bloom.

​Devon Balwit

Devon Balwit is a writer and teacher from Portland, OR. She has two chapbooks forthcoming--'how the blessed travel' from Maverick Duck Press and 'Forms Most Marvelous' from dancing girl press. Her recent work has found many homes, among them: Oyez, The Cincinnati Review, Red Paint Hill, Timberline Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Trailhead Review, and Oracle.

Chameleon, Hanging Begonia, by Arie van ’t Riet (Netherlands). Contemporary.