Art: Rhododendron, Winter by Emily Cross
RHODODENDRON, WINTER
A troupe of ghosts stand in abeyance─
radiant energy
we feel but cannot see.
A naive bud, abiding spring.
Guilded, like the age we live in─
a thin gold leaf of wealth for a few.
Greed, and fear of losing.
Leaves curl backwards into themselves,
exposing veins.
Darkness furthers isolation,
beast of winter.
This world has passed through
five mass extinctions─
each one a distinct specter.
This world has returned from
five mass extinctions─
each one a new blossoming.
Enter us homo sapiens─
roaming, foraging,
farming, manufacturing, digitizing.
Swift as gazelles,
overwhelming the waters,
plants, sentient beings.
Winter, the sixth
lumbers toward us.
Who will witness the bloom?
About the author:
Joan White's work has appeared in Cider Press Review, Midwest Quarterly Review, NPR On Being Blog, American Journal of Poetry, among others. She lives in Vermont where she raises funds for a nonprofit agency whose mission is to serve those living in poverty. She is a formal Zen student of Roshi Graef at the Vermont Zen Center.
Art: Rhododendron, Winter by Emily Cross
In the artist's words:
Emily Cross is based in Vermont, USA and has been practising photography for over three decades. More recently she has focused on making creative digital infrared images. She incorporates post-processing and alternative printing techniques to remove the original photograph from reality, creating a fictional representation to spark the viewer's imagination and provide an escape into the ordinary. Her infrared work is primarily based in the natural world.