Fall-Winter 2011

Poetry

Prose

Visuals

Detail of Springbok Prairie,
above left, by Connie Devendorf.

Detail of Echinacea in snow
by Gail Goepfert.

On Seeing the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Wilda Morris

Wilda Morris's love of nature was nurtured by her Uncle, John Norman Webber, who took her walking across country fields and fishing in a small lake. Her book, Szechwan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant, was published in 2008 by Rockford Writers' Guild Press. Wilda, who has published in numerous journals, newspapers and anthologies, has received numerous awards for her poetry, including a Pushcart nomination. She is the president of Poets and Patrons of Chicago and a past president of the Illinois State Poetry Society. Her poetry blog is found at wildamorris.blogspot.com .

Frosting

Frosting

Meteorologists say
the flutter
of a butterfly wing
at the far end of the globe
can change the weather here.                
I don’t know if that’s true.

Here’s what I do know:
when the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
settled herself on a pink blossom
near me, bright yellow wings
with four black stripes
spread to the sun,
hope rose in my heart,
and the sparkling confetti of joy
flew from my fingers all day.

Copyright © 2011. Wilda Morris. All rights reserved.