Vox Populi
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Michael T. Young: Two Poems
A Gift of Dream
It begins not in the trees exactly
but in what they do to the light,
how their leaves weave it,
a thread of spangles looped through
their branches, a nest of wonders,
grouped where our eyes rest in awe,
wedded with the other messengers
of sky and possibility. Under
those wings we grow our own, each
joy or sorrow drawn into feather
and bone, a slumber that wakes in us,
so free of the day’s dreck that we
become lighter than weather.
—
Wentletrap
This porcelain white staircase
spirals in tight curves
lacing toward the center
of a house. Its halls are lined
with relics of a predatory snail
who had a knack for architecture.
But for all his artistry
he lacked care, and left
his masterpiece behind
for a stranger to stumble upon,
and follow its tiers
in the winding semblance
of his mind.
~~~
Michael T. Young’s fourth collection, Mountain Climbing a River, will be published by Broadstone Media in late 2025. His poetry has been featured on Verse Daily and The Writer’s Almanac.
Poems copyright 2025 Michael T. Young
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Such lovely poems to read this spring morning.
“that we
become lighter than weather.” Ah!
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Thank you very much, Lisa. So glad you like them and they added to your spring morning.
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These poems are such gorgeous nuggets! Ones you want to read multiple times. Thank you!
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Thank you so much, Meg. I greatly appreciate your reading and saying they deserve multiple readings. All poets aspire to that artistry that endures.
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Love these poems, Michael, especially the Wentletrap, which sees the shell and deduces its occupant so precisely and beautifully. Congratulations, dear poet!~
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Thank you, Mary. I’m most grateful for your reading and appreciation.
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I spend way too much time pointing my phone camera in weird directions, zooming in on the patters of a succulent or pine needles or an insect wing. As a teen I finally purchased (with summer money from sorting plankton) a common Wentletrap ( there is another one that at least at that time would be a fortune) Sometimes I gaze into the garden at my simple labyrinth. Oh, and sometimes I purchase a kind of cauliflower for its fractals. I love waking to Vox populi and just writing first thoughts. Thank you for these two wonderful poems.
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We are lucky to see these things before they disappear.
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Thank you, Barbara. That is a wonderful habit: finding those amazing patterns in nature and taking the time to photograph them. They are beautiful and inspiring. And photographing them is certainly another way to ponder them and connect with nature.
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lovely poems, Michael! Congratulations!
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That you so much, Geraldine!
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I often will snap a photo of light filtering through the trees as I walk; a day flowing in incandescent, pollen-tinted light is one of the few things that never fails to make me smile. No matter how hard we strive we will never equal the beauty and creativity of mother earth, but she does inspire us as these lovely poems do.
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Agreed, Leo: nature’s creativity certainly surpasses ours. Wonderful to be able to witness it. Keep snapping those photos.
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What a great comment by Sean, and lovely reaction by Mike Young. Those two poems are so exquisitely clear, crafted and felt. I so appreciate exchanges such as this one — this is, for me, is the perfect way to start the day, here, on California’s Central Coast. I have admired Michael Young’s work for quite a while. It’s concision, intelligence and focus. Thank you to both Michaels!
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Thank you, Laure-Anne. The admiration is mutual.
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Thanks, Laure-Anne.
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Beautiful poems. ❤️
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Thank you, Donna. Blessed by your reading them.
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My pleasure! ❤️
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Indeed. I love these poems for their gentle wisdom.
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Yes!
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Michael (x2)
These are beautiful “Odes to the Fibonacci Sequence, purely Ekphrastic.
I once read an article in scientific American that had done a study of Jackson Pollock’s paintings. They determine that the basis of their dynamism was a device called fractals a result of that sequence in Plant life, and in this case the way things appear looking overhead through trees. Somehow Pollock came upon that visual phenomenon as he worked. Hans Hoffman said to him once you should work from nature, to which he replied, I am nature.
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Thank you so much, Sean. You hit upon an important connection and I appreciate that very much. Of course, Pollock had the perfect answer. Thank you for that anecdote.
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Great poems, Michael. And great response, Sean. I am fortunate to be the publisher of such brilliant poets!
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Deeply grateful, Michael
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