ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me | next poem →

Second Blooming

Toti O'Brien

I ask the June wisteria for reasons.
She says ‘some things can’t happen twice’.
Don’t believe her, though she didn’t lie
the wisteria of June, echoing modestly
April’s glory, explosion and firework
outburst and profusion of petals
hemorrhage and cascade
then silence, oblivion.

Like an afterthought, discreet
and yet sudden, the June blooms.
Slim, thin, conical clusters
punctuating the dark green of foliage
with the right amount of pale notes.
Contour, proportion, harmony
aren’t they beauty’s golden rules?
Then why are you overlooked?

Why do you pass by unnoticed?
Humble gift, deja-vu, your display
seems useless. We have seen you before
this year. Although that wasn’t you
but your sister April, the outrageous
the abundant, the daring.
Would we have found you marvelous
had we not seen your model?

Eyes of lilac parsimoniously dotted
against a furry background.
You are lush, yet comparison blots you away.
You are for nothing, unless we slow down.
Look. Another small cluster. Dense
and tight like a summary. Pocket size.
Thumbnail. Carry on. Cameo.
Distillate. Essential.

You’ll leave soon, then velvety pods
will reign. Summer adulthood
melancholia of fall, winter mutiny.
You are a final postcard from youth
spring waving its hand
as its spirals within memory’s folds.
You know the art of diminuendo
June darling. You clean after yourself.

Toti O'Brien is the Italian Accordionist with the Irish Last Name. She was born in Rome then moved to Los Angeles, where shemakes a living as a self-employed artist, performing musician and professional dancer. Her work has most recently appeared in the anthology ‘Finding Light in Unexpected Places’, Colorado Boulevard, Abstract Contemporary and Mortar Magazine.

ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me | next poem →











ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me

Toti O'Brien
   Second Blooming

Donna Dallas
   Epic Wretch

Juliet Cook
   When I was a little girl,
      I threw a rock at a crab
      and accidentally killed it

Jennifer Metsker & Kendall Babl
   Uninvited Images Arriving
      to the Lightless Shale of Sleep

Heikki Huotari
   Unfinished Sympathy

Barry Charman
   Becoming

Benjamin Nardolilli
   Pay Attention Update