Before the Harvest

 By Lee Marcus

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A tiny wasp finds a red peony

bursting open with sunshine, drinks

until slow and satisfied, moves voluptuously

to the tomato leaf waving nearby

whose yellow flowers have only just appeared.

Soon the fruit will come and more

hungering avians might visit

and you might even see them

if you look up from that glowing screen

and open those unseeing eyes, even

if you have to squint. You might

watch a backwards zipping hummingbird

dance from lavender to honeysuckle

and back again as the sky turns scarlet.

And when the moon widens then

wanes and daylight births again you’ll

remember how you are a part of

all of this, more than anything you

think you’re part of, because unlike

the glass and metal in the palm of your

hand, this is real, a pulsing web

that encompasses us all.

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Lee Marcus is a High School English Teacher from Brooklyn, NY. His work has appeared in several online publications. When not encouraging young people to engage in academic discussions about poetry and prose or inspiring them to improve their writing skills, he enjoys yoga, running, walking his dog, Chef, and the joys of being a new parent.