Where I Went Instead

by Donna L. Emerson

Magnolia leaves hold heft, scrape the pavement

if they’re kicked along. The shiny ones attached

above us form an umbrella to stand under,

from sun today or tomorrow’s rain.

Lemon-scented petals lift, one from

another, the way women open up. Bees begin

their drunken wafting

sepal to sepal, lumen de lumine.

Magnolia, the only tree born

before the bees, ninety-five million years

ago. Undifferentiated flower parts, Deum de Deo.

Pollinated by beetles, first. Strong, tough carpels

so not to be beetle whipped. Sturdy—

this tree staunch enough, steeped in ivory beauty

against black-green, makes me feel at home.

Though they were never home. They were

where I went instead: Alabama, California,

Hawaii, Louisiana, Gauguin’s Tahiti.

Roads, journeys to Kyrie Eleison—

in Gloria Dei Patris.

BIO: Donna L. Emerson’s work has received numerous prizes and awards, including Editor’s Choice in the 2023 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, the 2017 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, and honorable mention in the 2015 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award. Her first full-length poetry collection, The Place of Our Meeting, was published by Finishing Line Press in January 2018 and nominated for the California Book Award. Donna’s second full- length poetry collection, Beside the Well, was published by Cherry Grove Collections in December 2019. Lastly, her third full-length book, Daphne Lifts Up, will be published in 2024 by Finishing Line Press.