Louisiana Blue
read by zachary w roberts
The Manchac's banks are blessed with indigo
when native iris saturate the view
in April. When the moss is hanging low,
the cypress and the mighty tupelo
give shelter to the Great and Little Blue.
A dash of azure caps the vireo;
the deepest cobalt ink seems to imbue
the bunting, with its iridescent glow.
A bright blue lizard shuttles to and fro.
As purple twilight whispers its debut
and merges softly with the bayou's flow,
the stippled sky takes on a darker hue,
lending the swamp its gentle afterglow.
The Manchac's banks are blessed with indigo;
Louisiana sleeps in folds of blue.
© Mark Karpinski
Groundskeeping
read by salli shepherd
I cleared the ground around the graves today.
The cats beneath my feet were unaware
how difficult it was for me to stay
and see the markers where their bodies lay.
To weed a bed can be a grim affair;
I cleared the ground around the graves today.
The earth was rich and moist with decay,
the vines entwined the headstones like a snare.
How difficult it was for me to stay
and rake the leaves and haul the limbs away,
and smell the fresh earth laid before me where
I cleared the ground around the graves. Today,
I carted the debris out of the way,
and though the breeze was cool, the sky was fair,
how difficult it was for me. To stay
once a dreaded task is under way,
requires all the mettle one can spare.
I cleared the ground around the graves today—
How difficult it was for me to stay.
For Hepburn, In Memoriam
read by mary meriam
Bright independent mother of us all,
initiate of Fenwick's rowdy clique,
that from your birth empowered you to seek
out royalty with estimable gall,
to conquer men and leopards and to haul
a stag upon your shoulder. Never meek,
you wore smart pants, you seldom appeared weak.
Mythology has wrapped you like a caul.
But cameras lie, and nobody could see
into that room of urgent danger dark
where young life, hanging in the balance, snatched
your soul before you ever swam the sea
of possibilities, and made your spark
a blaze that turned the Memory to ash.
"Louisiana Blue" was first published in The Eleventh Muse, "Groundskeeping" first appeared in Tiger's Eye, and " For Hepburn, In Memoriam" was first published in Slow Trains. Diane Elayne Dees has poetry recently published or forthcoming in Mobius, The Raintown Review, Lucid Rhythms, Umbrella, and the Open Windows 2007 anthology. She lives in Louisiana.
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