"Becoming" by John Muro

Becoming

I stand here but am not here
adrift in summer air, a kind
of sleep, soundless, yet able
to hear the birds ambush darkness

with song and resurrect a world,
graciously given, where all is
unveiled in spectral splendor
while the heart expands with wonder:

a choir in each cough of wind;
the rupture of fragrance from
each blossom that astonishes
and agitates the soul, and the way 

random miracles gather, some
cupped in the well of my hand,
others, eye-distant, peripheral
enough to convince us to lean empty

and closer-in like a balsa tree—
more air than wood—its honey-
combed body traversing the under-
growth with lithesome ease and

a weightless want that propels it
beyond the threshold of a luminous
canopy, where, in supplication, its
lush sprawl greens a distant heaven.

John Muro

A two-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize in 2021, and, more recently, the Best of the Net in 2022, John is a resident of Connecticut, a graduate of Trinity College, and a lover of all things chocolate. He has published two volume of poems: In the Lilac Hour and Pastoral Suite in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Both volumes were published by Antrim House, and both are available on Amazon. John’s poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Acumen, Barnstorm, Euphony, Grey Sparrow, MORIA, River Heron and Sky Island. Instagram: @johntmuro.

Headshot: John Muro

Photo Credit: Kaylee Wallace