IN POETRY: INVITATION
by Sofia M. Starnes
Sofia M. Starnes, Virginia Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014, is the author of six poetry collections. She is the recipient of a Poetry Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Sofia serves as Poetry Editor and Poetry Book Review Editor of The Anglican Theological Review. www.sofiamstarnes.com.
Sofia M. Starnes, Virginia Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014, is the author of six poetry collections. She is the recipient of a Poetry Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Sofia serves as Poetry Editor and Poetry Book Review Editor of The Anglican Theological Review. www.sofiamstarnes.com.
Imagine one magnolia in the yard,
a solitary grosbeak out of reach
on a solitary branch--
the season’s final archive of ascent.
Imagine that it drops a leaf.
Your glance catches it,
forgoes the arbor and the drift-wing
and the extent to which they live,
to reconcile the iris with one sky,
one tree, one mortal bird.
Intent, it’s all about intent--
as with the eye, no more surveyor
but a lover in the momentary light,
or with the moon, drawn resolute
when tugging at the mist,
the immaculate lagoon, the girl
in mid-discovery.
At last, she stirs, full weight on little
feet, her focus on the door. . . .
How green each word outside her room.
a solitary grosbeak out of reach
on a solitary branch--
the season’s final archive of ascent.
Imagine that it drops a leaf.
Your glance catches it,
forgoes the arbor and the drift-wing
and the extent to which they live,
to reconcile the iris with one sky,
one tree, one mortal bird.
Intent, it’s all about intent--
as with the eye, no more surveyor
but a lover in the momentary light,
or with the moon, drawn resolute
when tugging at the mist,
the immaculate lagoon, the girl
in mid-discovery.
At last, she stirs, full weight on little
feet, her focus on the door. . . .
How green each word outside her room.
