Vox Populi
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James Davis May: Moonflowers
Tonight at dusk we linger by the fence
around the garden, watching the wound husks
of moonflowers unclench themselves slowly,
almost too slow for us to see their moving—
you notice only when you look away
and back, until the bloom decides,
or seems to decide, the tease is over,
and throws its petals backward like a sail
in wind, a suddenness about this as though
it screams, almost the way a newborn screams
at pain and want and cold, and I still hear
that cry in the shout across the garden
to say another flower is about to break.
I go to where my daughter stands, flowers
strung along the vine like Christmas lights,
one not yet lit. We praise the world by making
others see what we see. So now she points and feels
what must be pride when the bloom unlocks itself
from itself. And then she turns to look at me.
Copyright 2023 James Davis May. From Unusually Grand Ideas (Louisiana State, 2023).
James Davis May is a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Creative Writing and the author of two poetry collections, Unquiet Things and Unusually Grand Ideas. Originally from Pittsburgh, he now lives in Macon, Georgia, where he directs the creative writing program at Mercer University. He is married to the poet Chelsea Rathburn.
Vox Populi 
James Davis May is one of the anointed. Every poem in his two must-read volumes is moving, every line flawlessly cast.
“Moonflower” is a particular jewel.
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I agree!
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(it)throws its petals backward like a sail
in wind, a suddenness about this as though
it screams, almost the way a newborn screams
at pain and want and cold, and I still hear
that cry in the shout across the garden… What perfect description of a flower — giving it *sound*!
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Yes, fear and pain are part of the beauty here, very Rilkean.
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I’ve never seen flowers in quite this way before. Wonderful!
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Yes, it’s a beautiful lyric.
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Like the morning glory-like flower and the poem that introduces me to the moonflowers. I had a similar experience of flower-looking. So, thanks for sharing.
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Thanks, John. Yes, I love this poem.
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Such a wonderful poem!
We’re so excited they’re coming in just a few weeks to present their poems here. Kirby and Hamby too—“Tying the Knot—When Poets Marry” LRJF.org gives you the particulars.
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