Magnolia

By Royal Rhodes

---

The harvested magnolia
paper-thin pure petals

that fold into intricate
origami in the cold and dark

when opened resembles
a candle with golden wick

it absorbs the poured light
into its bride-white body

like the languorous flash
on the altar of your limbs

it is a vessel, vulnerable
cells, amassed like lace

as it fastens our gaze
in silent meditation

that keeps open my eyes
awake as if for the first time.

---

Royal Rhodes taught religious studies for almost 40 years. His poems have appeared in various journals, including Ekstasis, Ekphrastic Review, The Seventh Quarry, and The Montreal Review, among others. His poetry and art collaborations have been published with The Catbird [on the Yadkin] Press in North Carolina.

Royal's other work on Foreshadow:
A Road Through Ohio Spring (Poetry, April 2023)
A Pilgrim's Song (Poetry, May 2023)
Journey to Silence (Poetry, July 2023)
Remember David (Poetry, July 2023)