Motif Romanesque

 

                                                                                         By Ben Nardolilli 

It is important to let the girl pick the flowers,

after all, she is by herself, who would be tempted to follow her

as an example and seize all the petals and leaves

for a little bit of color temporarily soaking in a bedroom vase.

 

It is important to let the girl pick the flowers, 

there is no wilderness here to ruin, if nature was actually working,

the trees would be everywhere and this sunlit glen

filled with flowers would be foreclosed and abolished by the shade.

 

It is important to let the girl pick the flowers,

without her hands, these fields would start to fade together, 

the champagne bulbs dissolve into a foggy mass, 

but picking brings out a distinction for the flowers as living or dead.

 

It is important to let the girl pick her flowers, 

after all she is by herself, except for me, and my hands are busy

writing poetry, not harvesting the things spouting

and blooming without my prompting over the face of the earth.

About the Author:

Ben Nardolilli is a theoretical MFA candidate at Long Island University. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door Is a Jar, The Delmarva Review, Red Fez, The Oklahoma Review, Quail Bell Magazine, and Slab. Follow his publishing journey at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.