Prism

It was not what

I expected which

is a hell of a comment

to make about

three rainbows.

 

I was hoping for

a view. As the plaque

advised, I had

faith. Through

one storm and another,

 

for almost two

hours. I don’t believe

in signs. Driving

back, one curved

between the mile

 

high pines in the strip

where I could

see. It seemed to

leap from a marsh

beneath, barely

 

enough water to

make color. Bulbs

shone on the wet

air, each wavelength

bent upon its exit.

Author

  • Sandra Marchetti is the author of three full-length books of poetry, DIORAMA (Stephen F. Austin State UP, 2025); Aisle 228 (SFA UP, 2023); and Confluence (Sundress Publications, 2015) as well as four chapbooks of poetry and lyric essays. Their poetry appears in Ecotone, Poet Lore, Blackbird, Southwest Review, Subtropics, and elsewhere. Essays and stories can be found in AWP’s The Writer’s Chronicle, Pleiades, Mid-American Review, Barrelhouse, The Account, and other venues. They are Poetry Editor Emerita for River Styx Magazine.