Jacob Friesenhahn
the painted lady eats with invisible toes made of tiny tongues at the end of her six feet the painted lady sleeps on the Madonna’s red cape tired from flying about among iris rose and grape the painted lady listens with outstretched wings open to the golden hymns the locked garden sings the painted lady smells with dual dark antennae through thirty-thousand mirrors the painted lady can see beyond all our hopes and fears
Contextual Essay: The speaker in this poem finds surprising relief from worry through the contemplation of a butterfly (“the painted lady”).
Jacob Friesenhahn teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. He serves as program head for Theology and Spiritual Action (THSA).
Old Water Rat Publishing 