The Nature of Transformation
By Beverly Jackson

living under weight of moss,
layers of shale, slabs of marble
holding down effulgent essence
under heaviness, burdened by mass,
nightcrawlers for companions,
death prized in the void of darkness

shifting just a turn of a hair,
imperceptible mutation toward an edge,
infinitesimal fissure in position,
rock cleft where pools of shadows
form, soup of oxygen, food of thought,
pale gold glow of lightning bug
caresses eyes, closed tight, to open

a rush of perfumed air, lungs expand,
exploded droplets of joyous inhalations
of the world -- a baby’s cry, the smell of
bacon frying in a pan, a woman sleeps
beside her husband, arms entwined;
shadows gather, a confluence with light,
a rainbow straining in the basin by the bed,
sunlight hatching in the toes of old slippers.

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