Poem and Photographs by Joni Caggiano

the blue moon danced full of hope, giving way to the sunrise
whose eyelashes flutter as clouds pass by
an indigo tailed lizard drenched in the warmth of a red brick
orange and black, the monarch liberated from her chrysalis
stirring her freshly painted wings upon a green canvas
underneath leaves, a mantis is praying for her dinner
carefully polishing two bright olive swords
built with two rows of sharp spines, she prepares for the hunt
magnolia blossoms become a trap for a hungry bee
hummingbirds stall with sorrow, forgotten visitors to this family
the red mouth of iron rusted the lone bicycle with training wheels
vines cling with tendrils to the handles hiding signs
of life that once fetched playful notes like bubbles
bringing laughter while singing songs in nature’s chorus