June 22, 2016

Efflorescence by Ryan Warren

calla lilies, long and elegant and new
broad white hearts open to the sky
suddenly filling the leaf-rotted
winter-bedraggled forest floor

and the smell of jasmine
catching me by surprise, another year
in the dark morning air
a deeper breath is remembered, taken

away by the small girl ahead of me
running to catch her mother
all loose limbs and flapping feet
smile flashing from nervous to shy

to all the radiance the world
has ever struggled to contain, like the
calla lilies, long and elegant and new
broad white hearts open to the sky






Ryan Warren lives by the sea in Northern California and spends his time hiking, playing with the dog and thinking about exercising. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals including California QuarterlyAmaryllis and Your Daily Poetry. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/RyanWarrenPoetry.

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