Alternate Reality by Rita Coleman

If Narcissus the god had gazed at the narcissus flower

Blooming somewhere in the folds of the earth

If he had become enchanted by the warm yellow center

Enticed by slender, waving, come-hither lovelies

Entered the tubal opening, finding mirrored passion,

He would have beheld beauty staring back at him

Rather than the shallow reflection of his face in a pond,

A reflection, that had a wind arisen, would have blurred,

Then erased it.

Rita Coleman's written work has been published in: For All That is Our Life (meditations); Laughing Your Shorts Off (humor); Science of Mind magazine (poetry); Antioch College Women’s Center (poetry); and R*K*V*R*Y (personal narrative). Current projects include the juvenile historical fiction novel The Witness Tree-1755-2005, several picture books, and poems for a new collection. Ms. Coleman lives with her husband Frank Baxley and her dog Penny in rural Greene County, Ohio.