Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillar
Papilio polyxenes asterius
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On slender stalk
Prolegs prop the pudgy
Dill demolisher
Fennel finisher
Carrot cruncher
Celery savorer
These fleshy stubs stick to stems
Enabling efficient eating and
Methodical mandible munching
In a day’s duration
Leaving nothing but a stark stripped stem
Upon which perches a plump pre-pupa.
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An Alliteration Poem
Spicebush Swallowtail
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Spicebush swallowtail
Spicy leaves for the children
Purple petunia
The adult beverage of choice
While at this backyard resort
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To be read three different ways:
Top to bottom across the grid
Left to right across the grid
Diagonal
Broken Finally
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Pounding
Waves of heat and
Humidity
Deafening hum of sharp fan blades
Ceases
Dehumidifier rattle
Replaced by tree frog chirps
Katydid buzz
Bird song
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A Butterfly Cinquain Poem
Necrophila americana
The American Carrion Beetle
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Death
Feeds life
Soft Maggots
Are tasty snacks
Carrion Beetles
Consume flesh and fungus bites
While transplanting mites
Eating what we won’t
Try forcing us
And we may
Prefer
Death
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An Arkquain Poem
Because I Sat
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Because I sat for a moment
On a stone bench
Feet on pebbled concrete
I noticed more bird song
With each breath
In
Then
Out
I saw a crow fly above me
With long bits of the garden
In beak
Back
And
Forth
Creating home in a tall white pine
Life was happening
Around me
Not
To
Me
Because I rested
Breathing
In
Then
Out
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A Free Verse Poem
The Brilliance of Women
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Difficult Women
The Woman and her work
You can’t keep a good woman down
Too bright to hear too loud to see
All the light we cannot see
Everything matters
Although of course you end up becoming yourself.
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Book Spine Poetry
