by Suzanne Rogier Marshall
I wake to a crane fly beating
against my window pane.
Fooled by transparency,
it beats again and again.
An untidy knot –
gray, slender body pulsing;
long legs, like thread,
splayed in all directions, trembling;
veined wings fluttering.
Turn around!
The mist is rising over Newfound Lake.
You have only this day – fly
into the astonishing world behind you.
It stutter-stitches across
the cold morning glass.
Then back again.
A former middle-school English teacher, Suzanne Rogier Marshall has published professional articles, poetry, and a book on teaching writing. Her poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in The Tule Review, Written River, the Aurorean, contemporary haibun, and Freshwater as well as other journals. Suzanne’s first chapbook Blood Knot was released in June 2015. She has retired with her husband to the mountains of New Hampshire, where she draws inspiration for her writing.
Smoky Quartz 