The Bluestem

by

Meg Muthupandiyan

Long after the prairie burnishes
the bluestem refuses to reveal its
innermost life.

Not every grace is ours to see—
one night the towering grasses
will restring their jade seeds
like paper lanterns
and ignite them with the moon.

But will you, ever sleeping,
always miss the fete?

Here you are again
stumbling through the heavy drapes
of their desire, slouching silent
against the spectacle that has befallen,
shamelessly scuffing the light.

Meg Muthupandiyan writes and illustrates in the field of nature conservancies and public lands. Founder of the Poetry in the Parks public humanities project (poetryintheparks.org), her first collection of illustrated poetry, Forty Days in the Wilderness, Wandering was published in 2021. She is currently an artist-in-residence at ArtServancy, a Southeastern Wisconsin arts initiative in which artists partner with land conservancies. More information on her art and poetry can be found at meganmuthupandiyan.com.