Orchid
A single stem presents
roots acrobatic.
The whorl
with nectar in the spur,
exuberant.
The floral
reward. Adaptation
of labellum.
Seven
white-frocked nuns
with cup of hearts
resupinate,
synchronized in bloom
the way that roommates do.
Kathleen Hellen is the author of Umberto’s Night, winner of the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Awards include the Thomas Merton poetry prize, and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review.Read a poem by Kathleen Hellen appearing in Issue No. 24 of Terrain.org.
Header photo of orchid by gentle07, courtesy Pixabay.
