09 April, 2019: Chant of the Daffodils
READ A POEM
CHANT OF THE DAFFODILS
by Monica Kaiser
At the foot of the linseed tree
I see a cluster of five daffodils
toe themselves out of the ground
to stand on their own horizon;
unopened buds, solemn and emerald green,
point at the sky, prayer hands surrendering.
On day two, the daffodils hunch over,
the weight of the world is upon them,
as is an overnight snow
that crowns them white.
Stooped necks watch cars instead of clouds,
people instead of branches,
landscape instead of vanishing prayers.
Their hands become lips
and open on a popcorn yawn that stretches like a paw—
rabbit, dog, or cat—vulnerable.
On day three, the daffodils open
crepe paper petals, mouths of clarified ghee, sing,
find their purpose. Each tongue a poke of ruffled sun-rays,
the color of a harvest moon, chants a hello, an amen,
a joyous alleluia, even as they begin to die,
their unheard words wilt on lips.
Some people are brightest just before death,
flowering only to kiss us goodbye.
“Chant of the Daffodils” by Monica Kaiser. Copyright Monica Kaiser, 2018. Used by permission of the author.
Monica Kaiser is a graduate assistant at Kent State University and is in her second year of pursuing a Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts creative writing degree. She is the author of Still Sifting and is passionate about the environment, ecopoetics, conflict management and how these genres intersect. She lives with her husband, son, two rabbits and father near her childhood home in Akron, Ohio.
WRITE A POEM
Write about one of the snow days or extremely cold days this past January.