Inter Vivos
By Shelagh Patterson

Under elm tree, lightening bugs dance
as if branches have let down
        a web of tears

to mourn night sky’s cloud studded story.
Stride into darkness
        to make the eyes work so hard

for reflection the brain translates
the shades of rooted earth
        at different speeds

so the image of mud-field
ripples the way a fountain pool
        trills with each accepted prayer.

Sun never burns away the mists, what happens?
Desire becomes a shadow
        finding no surface to land on.

Copyright Shelagh Patterson. Used with the permission of the author.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Shelagh Patterson received her MFA from Hunter College. A recipient of the Bronx Writers' Center fellowship, her poems have appeared in anthologies, magazines, a feature film, and experimental theater. Shelagh is currently working towards a doctoral degree in English at the University of Pittsburgh.

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