Ligularia / Inversion

Ligularia / Inversion

Marjorie Maddox

Ligularia

Hungry,
this “little tongue”
now licks the sky flipped
to ominous, our opposite
of sun.

The sun
so ominous, the opposite
of now. Flip and the sky licks
this “little tongue,”
hungry.

Inversion

Ligularia, stingray on a stem,
you coast just below the eye
of our storm, white underbelly
tipped toward a battered sky.
By your side, that other one is
ready to unfurl its tight
sail of change, inverting
everything.

Everything
inverts with change, sail
ready to unfurl, tight
fists by our side, now open. We are the other
tipped. Unbatter the sky
with its after-storm, underbelly of white,
coast of shore we eye as hope. Below
the stingrays: waves of bloom: ligularia.

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Marjorie Maddox
Poet & Professor

Marjorie Maddox is a professor of English at Lock Haven University, and has published 13 collections of poetry, a short story collection; and 4 children’s books. Find her work here: www.marjoriemaddox.com

Photography by Karen Elias

Dr. Karen Elias taught college English for 40 years and is now an artist/activist, using photography to record the fragility of the natural world and raise awareness about climate change. Her work is in private collections, has been exhibited in several galleries, and has won numerous awards.