Naming Creation

           -after the painting Swarm by Anna Lee Hafer

From her mouth 

letters transform swarm. Her pursed lips 
release a kiss of them, explosion of light 
and swirl that redefines the way words slip 

from cortex to cochlea. Their circular dip 
into dance and sense twirls at dusk, border of night/ 
day transformed in the swarm. Her letters purse lips, 

beget articulation—reverse total eclipse 
until inspiration’s bright flash of lights 
swirls, redefines the way words slip, 

spark synapse after synapse after synapse 
while hand, brain, memory, insight 
transform the letters to warms. Her pursed lips 

release painting & poem. No planned script 
can recreate such abundance of bright  
swirl that defines the way words slip 

into meaning, transmission of firefly blips  
igniting the mind’s sky with inspiration. To write 
letters transformed by swarming, purse lips 

and swirl vision. Like this, redefined words slip  

from her mouth 

MARJORIE MADDOX

Marjorie Maddox, a professor of English at Lock Haven University, has published 13 collections of poetry—most recently Begin with a Question and Heart Speaks, Is Spoken For—as well as a story collection and four children’s books. The ekphrastic collaboration In the Museum of My Daughter’s Mind is forthcoming. www.marjoriemaddox.com

Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area. She has had exhibitions at the Davison Gallery at Roberts Wesleyan College and the Rochester Contemporary Art Center in Rochester, New York. Her art appears in Marjorie Maddox’s forthcoming book In the Museum of My Daughter’s Mind, as well as in various literary journals. www.hafer.work