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| The Corsican Spider in His Web by Thomas Rowlandson, 1808, National Gallery of Art, D.C. |
There
are two winners in the March challenge for poems about insects or other little
creatures thought of as "bugs." Several poems were about spiders.
Here is one:
Spider’s Web
intricate
as life
spun
white
more
exact than
Euclid’s
geometric calculations
laid
delicate and strong
in
perfect proportions
of
thread
in
a basket of pine—
where
will I look
for
perfection
where
will I look
for
proof of God
~
Michael Escoubas
I
was drawn to the quiet simplicity and spirituality of this poem, to the sense
that nature has beauty and perfection we can hardly fathom. It is
thought-provoking.
The
second winning poem takes a very different turn. It is thought-provoking, too,
and subtle.
Later Evolutions
Were there men or women
still, they might discuss, dissent
Darwin's insight or some gods'
intentions
as to modifying
miracles and mercies,
and after all the words would wonder
at the Monarchs on high honeysuckle
bowing in the breezes,
for the butterflies sing now
with such strong, sweet voices
in the silences we left.
~
Lennart Lundh
“Later Evolutions” first appeared in Pictures
of An Other Day (Writing Knights Press).
On
first reading, I wasn’t sure I understood the poem. Then I saw that the poet is
asking a question that has occurred to me, too: If the creatures living today—including
human beings—are the result of evolution, will we evolve into new forms of life
over time? What might replace humans? But I never pondered the ways in which
the monarch butterflies (or other creatures) might evolve.
Congratulations to Escoubas and Lundh!
They retain copyright on their poems.
Bios:
Michael Escoubas began writing poetry for
publication in August of 2013, after retiring from a 48-year-career in the
printing industry. Early in life his mother said, You have a gift for words; you should do something with that gift. He
writes poetry, in part, because of his mother’s encouraging words. Michael also
writes poetry because he believes poetry brings people together and that poets
are menders of broken things. Michael has published one chapbook, Light Comes Softly, which is available
either as an eBook or hard copy on all major outlets.
Lennart Lundh is a
poet, short-fictionist, historian, and photographer. His work has appeared
internationally since 1965.
© Wilda Morris
