Solstice

Pearl says she has to bring the ponies in.
Sometimes a phrase arrives in this ever
quickening lifetime that you have never
heard before & you just have to stop
& admire its brand newness. Its beauty.
It’s June. The field has refreshed itself—
the world is asparagus tipped & green.
They’re rescues Pearl says as only someone
who has rescued herself could say. What
lives inside a word? A pearl? Two ponies?
A string of pearls. More than words. A life.
Turn around & it’s almost July. Darkening.
The fireflies arrived last night. Just a few
flickers across the field. A little bit of glory.

MIRANDA BEESON

Miranda Beeson is a poet, educator, and editor. Her most recent collection of poems is Wildlife (Spuyten Duyvil, 2023). She teaches all over, including at Poets House in NYC. As an editor, she works with poets on the creative arcs of their manuscripts. The two sonnets in this issue are from a new book-length sonnet cycle. Learn more at mirandabeeson.com.