‘Whitecaps‘

By Larry Rochelle

If answers can swell like bees gorging

on mellow flavors, and if treats can be

found in wax chewed by colonies of mandibles,

each oozing sweet condiments,

then portray the fields of clover

like a white-purple wave on the banks

of the old Kansas, before the oceans expired,

before the water plummeted to distant seas,

before sharks died near Salina, hefting their

heavy weight onto the black rocks

where cows would soon roam and buffalo

would sink deep into flint,

the caves holding secrets of sea anemones

and baby’s breath, the flowers

urging tectonic seams, and warbles

replacing

the cold depths where

anchors rust and whales

swallow black bears whole.

– Larry Rochelle is a professor of English at Johnson County Community College and the author of the poetry collection “Moody Blue.”