Ghost Plants Perform in Lake Hallie
Beneath the old Norway spruce,
where asters scatter between
pockets of clover, and fungi rises
in the damp black dirt, M. uniflora
grows. Ghost plants haunt
the understory, break the shadows
with pallid-colored groupings
that lift like ballerinas
from stage-Earth’s trap door.
Their flowers, wan and curving,
bow to bees, in this step of two,
a pas de deux in pollination.
The yard waits for its next troop
to ascend. Light pirouettes where
trap doors rise, and ghostly stems
open with another season of hosts.
Jeannie E. Roberts lives in an inspiring rural setting near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Her fourth book, Romp and Ceremony, a full-length poetry collection, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. She is also the author of Beyond Bulrush, a full-length poetry collection (Lit Fest Press, 2015). Learn more at http://www.jrcreative.biz.
Portage Magazine 