Three Easter Lilies
Stone Ridge, NY, 1996
Cyanotype 8" x 10"
Courtesy of the John Dugdale studio
Stone Ridge, NY, 1996
Cyanotype 8" x 10"
Courtesy of the John Dugdale studio
Three Souls
after Three Easter Lilies, photograph by John Dugdale
If flowers have souls, these offer theirs
to view here. The one at center proud
and tall, muscled arms and strong shoulders
in a bodybuilder’s pose, staring straight
at the camera as if a challenge. The one
at left apparently doing a jig, full of fun,
ready to throw an arm around the nearest
waist and dance with abandon. At right,
the sad one, shy and trying to hide
from the camera that has captured it
out of focus, most distant and looking
away, almost a ghost, searching.
Matthew J. Spireng’s full-length poetry book Good Work won the 2019 Sinclair Poetry Prize and was published in 2020 by Evening Street press. His book What Focus Is was published in 2011 by WordTech Communications. His book Out of Body won the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award and was published by Bluestem Press at Emporia State University. He is also the author of five chapbooks and an 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee.
after Three Easter Lilies, photograph by John Dugdale
If flowers have souls, these offer theirs
to view here. The one at center proud
and tall, muscled arms and strong shoulders
in a bodybuilder’s pose, staring straight
at the camera as if a challenge. The one
at left apparently doing a jig, full of fun,
ready to throw an arm around the nearest
waist and dance with abandon. At right,
the sad one, shy and trying to hide
from the camera that has captured it
out of focus, most distant and looking
away, almost a ghost, searching.
Matthew J. Spireng’s full-length poetry book Good Work won the 2019 Sinclair Poetry Prize and was published in 2020 by Evening Street press. His book What Focus Is was published in 2011 by WordTech Communications. His book Out of Body won the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award and was published by Bluestem Press at Emporia State University. He is also the author of five chapbooks and an 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee.