wildflower children laugh,
tickled by the bees who hover, then
sleep doused and drowsy with nectar

to dream in multi-faceted, ultraviolet images–
their universe arced comet tails of pistils and stamens,
the star-glow of pollen.

Merril D. Smith is a poet whose work has been published in poetry journals and anthologies, including Black Bough Poetry, Acropolis, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Storms, Fevers of the Mind, and Nightingale and Sparrow. Her full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts (Nightingale & Sparrow Press) was Black Bough Poetry’s December 2022 Book of the Month and a  featured book on East Ridge Review. (Twitter: @merril_mds Instagram: mdsmithnj Blog: merrildsmith.org)