Animals: “Little Snatchers” by Aria Pahari

Little Snatchers

My sister and I creep closer 
to the blush of purple blooms 
where butterflies fold wings
for a journeyed sip of nectar. 

We reach up to clasp them 
between forefinger and thumb
reveling in the sheen that lingers 
on our fingerprints like ember.

Upon release their flight
stutters with turbulence slight
but before leaving we notice
realignments with air 

undeterred by our hands
outstretched in false threat 
to flitting limbs blessed
with dust layering 

and settling like a dance
upon the terrain of a planet 
we are grasping to know
if only for a beat. 

 

About Rebecca Pinwei Tseng

Rebecca Pinwei Tseng is a writer from Taiwan and an MFA student at Columbia University. Her work can be found in Chrysanthemum Taiwanese Poets Anthology, Asian American Writers’ Workshop (The Margins), The Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere. She currently lives in New York with her two pet bunnies, who are very much in love.

Social media: @rebbytseng on Twitter and Instagram.

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Animals: “Because the Gut Says So” by Rae Hoffman Jager

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Animals: Two Artworks by Melody Serra