You flutter past my passenger-side window,
bouncing through turbulence,
wings luminous: a velvet Elvis
under black light, collar glowing, satin
lamb chops rising and falling on hinges.
I hold you sacred as The King, high
in the ranks of poetic muse,
worthy of praise, tears, and standing ovations.
Such silk quavers, rendering my thoughts
into dangerous swiveling hips.
“Traffic Jam, Butterfly” originally appeared in Southern Gothic online.
Joy Beshears holds a BA from Salem College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry has appeared in various journals and anthologies including Surreal South, Main Street Rag, BREVITY, Southern Gothic Online, R-KV-R-Y Quarterly, Poet’s Canvas, THRIFT, In the Yard: A Poetry Anthology, Mountain Time, and Caesura. Her poem, “Rapture” was chosen by Kathryn Stripling Byer as Honorable Mention in the 2006 NC State Poetry Contest.
Viktorie Lexova is an artist living in the Czech Republic and maintains an account on Flickr.