July 2019
Author's Note: Here are two poems that deal with the theme of change. Sometimes change is physically real, and sometimes change is a matter of perception. sylviacavanaugh.com
American Metamorphosis in True Grit
Could the fevered hot fields
of Antietam and Gettysburg,
the Quantrill raid at Lawrence,
and even the hallowed rebel yell
transmute at last
into a Yell of Presbyterian
prosperity?
A New Nation born of mud tracks,
grit, and scattered brambles,
scrambled alliances
cooled to solid cold
beneath drifting snowflakes.
Small justice served.
Eve Explains
It isn’t that we left the Garden
we just perceived things differently
a sliver of brain
switched on
channeling new electric circuits
hardwired for otherness
for civilization
I can almost remember
the deep connection to earth
a wordless joy
Oh, and that bit about naming things
the scribes in Babylon
got it wrong
it was after we ate the fruit that Adam
developed his compulsion
field guides are proof of the Fall
© 2019 Sylvia Cavanaugh
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF