— Inspired by Marilyn Maxwell’s

archival pigment print

“Palm Tree with Wild Dogs”

 

 

When I saw your world,

your internal landscape—

desperate depiction

reflected in the growling

gray clouds, the lonely

palm tree shining like fire,

still yet frantic, caught

between light and dark,

the lanky, languid wild

dogs wandering forever

in that moment, one flash

between sky and water,

serenity and violence—

I saw your meaning,

your fear, the risk,

their vulnerability,

not from a raw habitat,

but rather from a species

who can’t imagine value

in naked space or such

uncontrollable places.