Eclipse

Janet Parlato

A furtive crow pontificates on how best to eat the sun
harsh instructions which gather murder acolytes
swiveling in all directions, beaks clapping
guttural history that by three PM will leave them ominously
full of the haloed banquet when light
resumes they scatter in their ink
From blinding phases a mother shielded her child
who collects without prejudice berries and caterpillars
secretly she brushes away poisonous ones
whose disappearance purples the little face
with the simple shadow of questions
She offers a feather from the grass
tiny fingers accepting as distant crows
released from the province of spells
with raucous shouts bless the dazzling relic
wafted from the ancient aviary of light

Janet Parlato is a writer and artist who lives in Middlebury, Connecticut with her husband Steve and their children, Ben and Jillian. Her work can be found in numerous publications, including Common Ground Review, Freshwater Poetry Journal, Paper Nautilus, Cathexis Northwest Press, Parhelion Literary Magazine, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Nat 1 Publishing, Cape Cod Review and elsewhere.

Art: Ellen June Wright’s work revolves around the power of color and the emotions and memories they evoke. She is inspired by the works of Stanley Whitney, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Frank Bowling, Howardena Pindell, Jamaican Artist Cecil Cooper and others. Her art appears in LETTERS, Gulf Stream Magazine, Wild Roof Journal, Breakwater Review, Burningword Literary Journal, Hole In The Head Review, Oyster River Pages, Kitchen Table Quarterly, NOVUS Literary Journal and others. Her work was included in the 2024 Newark Arts Festival and featured at the HACPAC in NJ. To see more visit: https://8-ellen-wright.pixels.com/