Vernal Equinox

Time to plan what gardens, arboretums, conservatories to visit at the peak of their tulip displays. Intrigued, electrified by how they loosen, unfurl to absorb light and heat, attract pollinators; at night, on cloudy days, close to keep pollen dry, sex organs safe.

To behold how they curve fully open, reveal pistil and dark stamens, petals yellow streaked with orange, vibrant, shimmery-soft.

O, to bloom, to arch open, bask in the current, river of the divine orb.

The Volume of Love

I enter a house
purple with longing
roam rooms, corners
amassed with jasper
to draw out spirits

Outside, I move between woods
and lake, deep spaces

Trunk, foliage, clouds reflect
on water, soundless
felt weight of music

The flat curl of opposite shore
calls, casts me into the golden lap
of wonder, the blue-green quiet tick—
Earth’s heavenly body

~ Found poem composed/modified from words on pages 36-7 of Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of Emily Carr

Karen L. George is author of the poetry collections Swim Your Way Back (2014), A Map and One Year (2018), Where Wind Tastes Like Pears (2021), Caught in the Trembling Net (2024), and the collaborative Delight Is a Field (2025). She won Slippery Elm’s 2022 Poetry Contest, and her award-winning short story collection, How We Fracture, was released by Minerva Rising Press in 2024. Her poetry appears in The Ekphrastic Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Lily Poetry Review, and Poet Lore. Her website is https://karenlgeorge.blogspot.com/.