The Collector
I want to atone
for all the butterflies
I murdered as a boy,
dousing them with lighter fluid —
swallowtails, tiger, spicebush, and black,
monarchs and mourning cloaks.
I pinned my collection, brilliant wings
splayed open, onto a fibre board
which was probably laden
with asbestos — miniature Mengele
that I was, curating my prize
specimens. And all the fireflies
we caught in jars, who by morning
were dead —
I atone for them, too.
Because they were all
living creatures, never mine
to collect. This is not the same
as hearing a great singer perform
on stage, then buying the recording
as a keepsake, except in this:
The album never sounds as rich,
nor are dead butterflies — imprisoned,
inert — as beautiful as the living.
Now I am content
to watch them flit over flowery fields,
or to see the fireflies rising
out of evening dew. Perhaps
their airy weight can balance
their long-dead cousins.
Yet, I think atonement
is never enough.
Global Warning
pale bear on edge
of ice and water-blue
distances:
the seal
is on the gate, the rose
does not fade, but turns
brown under wind.
there was an explosion
in the circled square:
soldiers came running.
calculation spoilt
by fact — cold wall
scribed by sword-verses.
overhanging.
ineradicable.
a way of dressing.
a thousand islands
made of ice, floating south:
water-molecules
absorbed by sea.
and the bear swimming
against this
current, swimming
into the sun.
a rifle is only a machine.
a contrivance of levers,
and yet enough of them
will move the earth.
W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals, as well as several anthologies. Luther is the author of six poetry chapbooks — his most recent is The Colour Wars, (Kelsay Books, 2024). His full-length collection, Flying to America was released by Broadstone Books in 2024. Luther is the facilitator of a monthly virtual open mike sponsored by the Hyattstown Mill Arts Project in Hyattstown, Maryland. He also coordinates two monthly on-line poetry critique workshops. Luther is also a singer-songwriter who performs sporadically in wine-bars and cafes. He has released two singles and is in the process of recording an album of original material.