I woke in grief and beauty

Here is a new poem of mine--"I woke in grief and beauty"--in the new issue of Right Hand Pointing. And be sure to click on the contents page, to see the marvelous image provided with The Pillars of Hip Hop theme of this issue, and to click on the hand to read from start to finish or on the poet's name.

Click the Note to learn more about the editor's grief for his mother.

You know I love coincidence, and by coincidence my sister arrives tomorrow, returning to her childhood home with her daughter for a college visit nearby. The grief of the dream will be relieved by the joy of reality.

You see the female monarch above, in red and white clover. It's a photo by HaarFager, will full credits & licensing info here. Our local monarchs are among those who migrate south to Mexico, often in October.

And here is the underside of the monarch, its "pale orange repose," a featured photo from Wikimedia Commons!

It's Saturday, after the cemetery walk, and I am about to slip into a pale orange repose of sorts, on this Slattern Day in the blog, having worked hard all week as a ghost and yesterday, on A Ghost's Day Off doing the accumulated household chores....

And here is an amazing photographic record of a monarch emerging, by Megan McCarty, a Creative Commons image, also thanks to Wikimedia, with full info here.

For more about the monarch butterfly, go here.