Magnolias – a poem by Connor Brown

Magnolias

I read vastly
in those days   seeking
comfort of both Christ and
Krishna   poets and prophets
             sophists too    craning
each crease of my fingers
for truth
or what I 
wished was true

I was quick to see
the flower    but only
for its fading    how
by April’s end
magnolias only
crumpled like fists
clinched against
the sky

Of course by August
they were ancient    but
from among the deep
shadow and shine of leaves
the swell            the swell
of something more feeble
more eager to lean    trusting
as much the inevitable
as what is less readily seen

Connor Brown is a writer and mental health counselor in training based in West Chicago, IL. His poetry has previously appeared digitally in Ekstasis Magazine and in print in Solum Journal (Vol. V).