After watercolor “Joanne’s Flowers”
Guileless and forthright
the mason jar sat on the window sill,
the simple chalice Grandmother
used for her blossoms.
She worked at a cannery – Mother tells me –
from the start of the season to the end.
Through slitted squinted eyes, I
watch the wind manifest itself
as it moved coreopsis, zinnias;
not knowing how to reconcile
that blousey peony, the aqueous sunlight
to an artless woman with an Arkansas twang.
Ariel
Ariel (she/her) is a full-time Pacific Northwest poet, often participating at Oregon Open Mics events. She has been published in anthologies and journals such as Gold Man Review, AIM, The Widow’s Handbook, Moment Before Midnight, Terra Incognita, and On the Platform Waiting: most recently in Hallowzine. Ariel often collaborates in many poetry/art projects and is a member of Oregon Poetry Association, Mid-Valley Poets Association, Willamette Writers and Poet. She paints under the brush name of CC Willow. Her website is poetariel.net.
