sunset.jpg!Large
Still Wonder
by Andrew Jeter

Under the high, clear sun I am
fixed on a spot one and half inches
from a bright yellow plastic flower spout
rising up from a red feeder full of
sweet nectar I made for a
itinerant friend who glows
a green flash around my offering
in hot summer air.

A breeze rakes the maples nearby
and under the shade of
a rangy oak’s peak,
twitching her tail, a sable squirrel
eyes me—paused & still.

And I am still waiting as the
sun curtsies her apricot
dress across the horizon-lapping lake,
the trees point to the future’s darkening rim,
and the light starts to fade from
all the world’s little grottos.

Tomorrow, I know,
will be the rebirth
of things,
and I pray
I will be here to still
wonder at them.

PAINTING: Sunset by Nikolai Yaroshenko.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Although Ferlinghetti’s poem “I Am Waiting” often makes us think of waiting, every time I read it, I am inspired by his call for wonder and I am very intrigued by the idea that waiting is a part of wonder. I wanted to write a poem about how the two—waiting & wonder—work with each other.

Jeter

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrew Jeter has been a high school English and film teacher for 18 years. He holds a BA in English and Creative Writing, a Masters in English Education, and a PhD in English Composition & Applied Linguistics. He has lived in North Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Europe, and North America with five dogs and one husband. He currently splits his time between Chicago and Saugatuck, Michigan. His first collection of poems, Ancient Memories, is available at blurb.com. His poems have also been published by Silver Birch Press. Read more of his work at andrewjeter.org.