Based on an image by artist Vony Razom, who is currently producing art from a bomb shelter in Ukraine
in the madness of the fertile lands,
a red blossom and its red leaves—
and from its seed, red caterpillars
bending into Red admirals, strong
in wing and shape, a rugged Vanessa
do not mistake fractures in the sea
for weakness of the heart, soul sickness— she knows the beauty of self and water
from her place on the shore of power,
a current: she flips into the air, sails
within the wind, reflects on strength
and courage. Sometimes a butterfly
becomes human and changes the world.
_______________
First published by Visual Verse
| Copyright © 2022 by Michael H. Brownstein Michael H. Brownstein’s volumes of poetry, A Slipknot Into Somewhere Else and How Do We Create Love?, were published by Cholla Needles Press in 2018 & 2019, respectively. |
Michael, thank you for bringing me back from the frivolity of license-plate haiku variés to the serious matter of Ukraine.
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