From Holmenkollen,
a train ride down the mountain,
rain splashing window,
looking over woods and town;
in the distance, Oslofjord.
Copyright 2022
T. Allen Culpepper
From Holmenkollen,
a train ride down the mountain,
rain splashing window,
looking over woods and town;
in the distance, Oslofjord.
Copyright 2022
T. Allen Culpepper
Just a small green wedge
in mud right now, but, so soon,
a gladiolus
will rise and spread her purple
petals in regal glory.
Copyright 2020
T. Allen Culpepper
Giant rock turtle
sunning itself for eons
on a towering crag,
unconcerned with permanence,
secure in the long-enough.
Copyright 2019
T. Allen Culpepper
Even green leaves curl
and crinkle in the dry wind;
flowers hang limp-necked
from drooping stems at midday:
August in Oklahoma.
Copyright 2018
T. Allen Culpepper
A pink thumb thrust up
between the wrapped green fingers
of the tulip’s fist
will burst open and bleed flame
when the spring sun provokes it.
Copyright 2018
T. Allen Culpepper
Jet trails scratch pink clouds
brushed across pale blue canvas,
slashed with palette knife,
the artist in frustration,
unable to paint the sky.
Copyright 2017
T. Allen Culpepper
Tendrils stretch spaceward
out of molten yellow suns
encased in coral
cups from which the insect gods
taste, satiate themselves, fly.
Copyright 2017
T. Allen Culpepper
Confetti petals
strewn by the rhododendrons
litter the hard stones
in a pattern suggesting
the rocks themselves have blossomed.
Copyright 2017
T. Allen Culpepper
A sliver of moon
lightly embraces the orb
of almost-blackness,
the other that it figures
in synecdoche this night.
Copyright 2017
T. Allen Culpepper
Black birds interweave
tangled limbs in dusky light;
two chairs stand idle,
holding their empty places
as darkness falls on Sunday.
Copyright 2017
T. Allen Culpepper