Praise the Insects
Let me praise the dark red bird, nameless, obsessed
praise the twilight and the off-hand evening
light borrowed and tired
praise the thick young layer of cloud
subway cars full of spring leaves
praise the green flashes painted
on horizons, the cagey rat
slinking past the fence
out the corner of my eye
praise the drunken sleep
that overtakes me
praise the errant thoughts
that ride up the dumbwaiter
lit by a rampant sizzling fuse
as my anvil lids, heavy with sleep
loaded with stones
slur my pen
as I nod
slip into a sly oblivion
and back
to praise this evening’s naked
insects—feet of the gods
insects whose puffy nibbles
pique and itch—
insects—food of the birds.
- © Carla Schwartz 2023
Filmmaker and photographer Carla Schwartz’s poems have been widely published, including in The Practicing Poet (Diane Lockward, Ed) and in her collections “Signs of Marriage'' and “Intimacy with the Wind.” Recent publications and acceptances include The Ear, Channel, California Quarterly, Cutthroat, The Poet’s Touchstone, Ibbetson Street, Inquisitive Eater, Paterson Literary Review, Triggerfish Critical Review, The MacGuffin, and Leon. Carla Schwartz is a 2023 recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant.
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