~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Diane Elayne Dees

Louisiana Dusk

Fireflies, bamboo, crickets, and frogs

surround me as the night comes on.

A lone palmetto coaxes me

to turn my gaze toward the graying sky.

The wild magnolia lends glossy green

as fireflies, bamboo, crickets, and frogs

unfold the night on a summer evening.

Suddenly, there’s a bigger glow—

solar dragonfly lights come on

in flashing colors near my head,

as fireflies, bamboo, crickets, and frogs

announce the close of another day.

Lights and colors, shapes and sounds

remind me of time I can never get back,

so I breathe through the time that I have right now

with fireflies, bamboo, crickets, and frogs.

Bamboo Ballet

Black bamboo stalks sway

like choreographed dancers,

as bending sunrays deposit

diamonds on their emerald

costumes. I listen to the breeze

and strain to hear the music,

hoping that I, too, can somehow

be transported by its trance-like

rhythm. But my heart is heavy,

and not yet ready to dance,

so I am content, for now, to be

a spectator, and to bask in the glow

of the tall, shimmering stalks,

as they plié through a golden afternoon.

Diane Elayne Dees is the author of the chapbooks Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books), The Last Time I Saw You (Finishing Line Press), and The Wild Parrots of Marigny (Querencia Press). Diane, who lives in Covington, Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world. Her author blog is Diane Elayne Dees: Poet and Writer-at-Large. Email: dianeedees@gmail.com