Ina Donna Coolbrith (Ина Донна Кулбрит)

The Mariposa Lily

Insect or blossom? Fragile, fairy thing,
Poised upon slender tip, and quivering
To flight! a flower of the fields of air;
A jeweled moth; a butterfly, with rare
And tender tints upon his downy wings,
A moment resting in our happy sight;
A flower held captive by a thread so slight
Its petal-wings of broidered gossamer
Are light as the wind, with every wind astir,
Wafting sweet odor, faint and exquisite.
O dainty nursling of the field and sky.
What fairer thing looks up to heaven's blue
And drinks the noontide sun, the dawning's dew?
Thou winged bloom! thou blossom-butterfly!

Ina Donna Coolbrith’s other poems:

  1. In Ended Days, a Child, I Trod Thy Sands
  2. Love-Song
  3. Unbound
  4. The Day of Our Lord
  5. Return




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