NOCTURNE by Jennifer Wenn

Nocturne

With thanks to those who

saw and captured the magic

Before, when the sun slipped away

coruscating wonder and wisdom reigned above;

Hablik looked up to find earth grasping

for a whirling, scintillant firmament;

Van Gogh beheld intense, shimmering spirals

of power surmounting a sleepy town;

now, city-bound, I am greeted

by a murky veil harkening

to Whistler’s night visions, but

bleached of his delicate beauty.

Abscond, throw off time’s shackles,

escape blinding excess;

gaze skyward anew, rediscover the

painful, lost art of

patient, faithful waiting.

[…]

Dusk settles over pastorality,

crickets serenade dancing fireflies,

a dog a farm or two over bids

farewell to the sinking crescent moon

and, channeling Sappho, welcome to

the glittering diamond signifying Venus.

Jupiter, lord of the planets, is soon

shepherded in, followed by the

Martian mote cloaked in dusky red.

The first stars, Dickinson’s Arcturus

and Auden’s Vega, sparkling across

unfathomable expanses lead a trickle, then

a flood filling the sky with pointillist wildfire

slashed through by the Milky Way’s

blazing river of embers.

[…]

Breathe

[…]

All too quickly modernity searches me out,

recouples the fetters, and ushers me

back under the cataractic dome,

back to my pseudo-cave where I will

hibernate and remember,

and dream of a return.

(This poem first appeared in Beliveau Review 6)

Jennifer Wenn is a trans-identified writer and speaker from London, Ontario. Her first poetry chapbook, A Song of Milestones, has been published by Harmonia Press. Her first full-size collection, Hear Through the Silence, was published by Cyberwit. She has also written From Adversity to Accomplishment, (a family and social history); and published poetry in numerous journals and anthologies including Word City Literary Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, Journey of the Heart and the anthology Poems in Response to Peril. She is also the proud parent of two adult children. Visit her website here.

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