POESIS

the madrigal, volume v

Only Child

by michael lyle

the retiree flutters
to childhood’s seclusion
like a butterfly returning
to his chrysalis tree

a boy’s belief in goodness
content with smallness
as ants working dirt
by the basement door

the cloistered quiet
unknown, apart
immersed as trout
in a mountain stream

trusting convergence
of kernel and clay

breathing vows
like a solitary brother
in a tiny monastery

Michael Lyle is the author of the poetry chapbook, The Everywhere of Light (Plan B Press, 2018) and his poems have appeared widely, including Atlanta Review, The Carolina Quarterly, The Hollins Critic, Mudfish and Poetry East. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, USA.