Lorrie Ness

Visual Distortions

the best entrances            exit
onto untangled sky
                         titanium glare
of queen anne’s lace
pouring
the meadow’s edge
over the horizon her eyes              were that kind         
of opening            
lids pushing margins
away
wild irises           constricting sun    
to a pinpoint 

even then            her world
was shrinking

that final summer       she spent  
under the arbor                 coaxing
            chickadees   
                        with peanuts
                        in an open palm
            close enough
where she could still see

through wisteria            
coiled above        her narrow aperture
            of sky
was purple & green
her sky
was a fading bruise

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Lorrie Ness is a poet working in Virginia. Her work can be found at Palette Poetry, THRUSH Poetry Journal, Typishly and various other journals. She was twice nominated for a Best of the Net Award by Sky Island Journal. Her chapbook Anatomy of a Wound is published by Flowstone Press.