WITNESSING PHOTOSYNTHESIS

My partner in
a sturdy flowerpot.

She trips the light
fantastic, into all life.

Comets arc
universes, for her.

Waves entwine like wreaths
to holidays, for her.

A sturdy flowerpot
walks out of daydreams,

volunteering to me:
This is blossoming day.

I call back to it
in sharp hesitancy

When was the last time
I let myself kiss the sun?

NEW PASTORAL

Earth’s bell rings into naked autumn;
the meadowlarks forage the bedtime of berries.
They curl their tongues in birthplaces of insect dynasties
under a starless canopy of peace—
or that is what the night suggests
until one explores closer to see the blackbirds
making a new sky, tearing each other apart.

Nicole Scott is a West Virginia native with an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University. She loves exploring wordplay, mythology, and sexuality in her work, while simultaneously debating if she should have another double shot of espresso. Her poetry and other published work can be found on her website nicolescottpoetry.com.

Image: Lionsleeps23, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons