by Donna J. Gelagotis Lee

Let me articulate it for you,

clean as a bone, clear as snap.

It doesn’t have to be philosophical

or too academic. A word can be

simple and weigh, or fly away,

flapping its wings in flight,

trailing its sounds in indecipherable in-

cantations. It’s not impossible to

guess, either, the bald eagle’s life

before the bird became famous,

nature dragging a whole country on

its wing. If I could blow letters,

sound their contours as if

they stood for the letters we named,

would you understand language

before articulation?

Donna J. Gelagotis Lee is the author of two collections, Intersection on Neptune (The Poetry Press of Press Americana, 2019), winner of Prize Americana, and On the Altar of Greece (Gival Press, 2006), winner of the Gival Press Poetry Award. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications internationally. www.donnajgelagotislee.com