Here is a fresh new poem by Natalya Sukhonos of Brooklyn, NY. Her poetry collection A STRANGER HOME was published by Moon Pie Press in 2020. This poem was read on the Bay Poets program on radio station KALW in California on August 31st. Copyright 2022 by Natalya Sukhonos; used with permission. WHAT IF? Next time you ask: why the indoor picnics with kids? I'll say: butterflies taste with their feet. We'll dance on the picnic blanket once we're done with our crackers and cheese. Our feet will taste of crumbs and Cheddar, tango from San Francisco, magical carpets and exhaustion. Split open, a caterpillar in a chrysalis is faceless goo. Two days later, it's a monster of beauty, with wing veins, a maelstrom of color, the power of flight. What if quarantine ripens us for transformation? After being ensconced in our homes, we shall emerge with a changed face. The streets will smell of asphalt as if rain has fallen on the city, and the light will change to a feathery, pellucid haze. Silence will fall on the city, a certain hush a split second before the folded wings unravel, the body tenses, the little larva angel flings itself into the blue, forgets it used to crawl, spreads its extremities into the wind surrenders to nothingness.
freshmoonpie 