The last time I kissed you,
purple butterflies flew out
of my heart. They fluttered
under moonlight, circled
in surreal vertical loops
like a rainbow Ferris wheel.
The ground glowed where
we stood, then the violet
ones metamorphosed
into turquoise angels.
Night embraced us, we felt
the surge of electricity
and lifted above ground,
cacooned in light, joined
the angels dancing
with our hearts. We kissed
again, our lips changing
to hands, most beautiful
butterfly hands, swirling
higher into the heavens
with our prayers folded
in the powder palms
of our wings, our kisses
in our hearts, our souls
in God’s.
ADR ADVISOR/POETRY EDITOR John C. Mannone has poems appearing/accepted in the 2020 Antarctic Poetry Exhibition, North Dakota Quarterly, The Menteur, Blue Fifth Review, Poetry South, Baltimore Review, and others. His poetry won the Impressions of Appalachia Creative Arts Contest (2020). He was awarded a Jean Ritchie Fellowship (2017) in Appalachian literature and served as celebrity judge for the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (2018). His latest of three collections, Flux Lines: The Intersection of Science, Love, and Poetry, is forthcoming from Linnet’s Wings Press (2020). He edits poetry for Abyss & Apex, Silver Blade, and Liquid Imagination, as well as being a contributing poetry editor for ADR and a physics professor.
Latest posts by John C. Mannone (see all)
- William Whispers In My Ear by John C. Mannone - May 1, 2023
- Χαίρω by John C Mannone - December 18, 2022
- From a Long Line of Trees by John C. Mannone - April 19, 2022