Dogwood Flowers by Terri Kirby Erickson

From a distance, it seems
as if an eclipse of White
Spring Moths is fluttering
around the trunk of a dog-
wood tree—each bright
wing the color of Chantilly
lace. But when the breeze
moves on and the tree’s
slim branches cease their
trembling, one might think
that time itself has stopped.
Now, every moth-like flower,
at the pinnacle of its beauty,
seems suspended in midair—
as perfect as a photograph
or a memory we hold so tight,
nothing in this world could
ever tear it from our hands.



Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of six collections of poetry. Her work has appeared in “American Life in Poetry,” The SUN, The Writer’s Almanac, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Verse Daily, and many others. Her awards include the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and a Nautilus Silver Book Award.