Renowned poet Lawrence Bridges reveals the juxtaposition or balance of light and dark in his poem “Dry Iris”. A piece as much about death and mortality as it is about life, vernal and abundant, Lawrence laments in “Dry Iris” the confusing give and take of existence, the risk inherent in looking for beauty in the landscape of what can destroy us.
Dry Iris
I wade through swamp,
————————————-growth
up
from the sleeping earth
through mud and swimmers,
to air and light.
Ecology, you have confused me.
When I seek flower,
————————–I risk consciousness
and anatomy to alligator
and python.
Lawrence Bridges
Lawrence Bridges’ poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Tampa Review. He has published three volumes of poetry: Horses on Drums (Red Hen Press, 2006), Flip Days (Red Hen Press, 2009), and Brownwood (Tupelo Press, 2016). You can find him on IG: @larrybridges