Edgewood Orchard Galleries sculpture garden, Dale Rogers, Mama Bear and Cubs
after the mama loses a cub i sit
to sketch her again watching
for what’s different than
before when two
of them trailed her
maybe she is still leading
them away from danger so
intent on the nearby road
that she doesn't notice yet
all seams and angles and hard
edged planes
that anything changed
her crisp creased triangles &
quadrilaterals coming together
like the origami bear
i once failed
to fold with my 10-year-old
giving up somewhere mid-way
100 150 200 steps i don’t
remember too many
to follow
the last summer home
he folded rose after rose after rose
their centers spiraling & dropped
them on table tops
where i caught & piled
them in a hand-thrown bowl one
of many he tossed off so good
at making that i thought
he knew everything already
without directions
Wendy Vardaman PhD, works as a web and digital media specialist, served as Madison, Wisconsin, poet laureate from 2012 to 2015, and volunteers as a graphic designer for poetry-related causes. The author of five books of poetry, including thread me an exit (Brain Mill Press 2025) and the other end of the line (dancing girl press 2026), two new collections are forthcoming from Red Bird Chapbooks and Cornerstone Press in 2027. She is a recent recipient of residencies at Write On, Door County, Ragdale, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA). WEB INSTA
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