2 poems by Jessica Weyer Bentley “Transience of the Empath” & “Flora’s Hierarchy”

photo from pixabay

Bio: Jessica Weyer Bentley is an author, poet, and photographer. Her first collection of poetry, Crimson Sunshine, was published in May 2020 by AlyBlue Media. Her chapbook, Down Below Where the Canary Sings was published May 2, 2023 by Sage Owl Publishing in Massachusetts. She has contributed work to several publications for the Award-Winning Book Series, Grief Diaries, including Poetry and Prose, and Hit by a Drunk Driver. Jessica’s work has been anthologized in Women Speak Vol. 6 (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions), Summer Gallery of Shoes (Highland Park Poetry), Common Threads 2020 and 2022 Editions (Ohio Poetry Association), Pegasus 2022 Journal (Kentucky State Poetry Society) Appalachian Witness Volume 24 and Appalachian Unmasked Volume 25 (Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel) and Made and Dream (Of Rust and Glass) 2021 and 2022. She has been published in several publications by Alien Buddha Press including anthologies and magazines. She has contributed work to online blogs including Global Poemic, Lotherian Journal, Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and was a Wolfpack contributor for the online journal, Fevers of the Mind. Jessica currently resides in Northwest Ohio.

Transience of the Empath

I see the fade,
the ellipses on the lavender horizon.
The calendar years collapse,
sharp burnt vegetation of a majestic oak.
I detether from this round indigo orb,
reeling,
a rogue hot air balloon,
a brain full of helium.
The mortar and brick have dissolved to mere chemistry,
the nativity lay open.
The bone and sinew years fragment, 
infinity,
infinity. 

Flora's Hierarchy

Does the willow weep,
or simply bow in admiration,
of summer’s warming ages,
bending in gratitude to the crimson cardinal,
as he ushers it in with a summoning call.
The willow offers a curtsey to the queen of terms,
the blades shine in an effervescent tone.
The humble and sage guardian is not weeping,
 kneeling to allow those in its eclipse to rise.