Worm and Gold Leaf
Nic Sebastian


a man bows deeply
to a coconut palm
before he climbs
to harvest it

a woman begs forgiveness
from a worm

your raft glides
through drowsing reed
on black water

your hand falls asleep
on the tiller

a monk approaches you
faceless in silhouette
sunlit mango groves
bright at his back

everything is painted
in gold leaf
but the gods
are resistant

a volcano wakes
a child walks alone
in the rice fields

Nic Sebastian is the author of Forever Will End On Thursday and Dark and Like A Web, both published under the poetry nanopress model with partner editors. She co-founded and curates The Poetry Storehouse, which showcases "great contemporary poems for creative remix." Nic blogs at Very Like A Whale, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Yew Journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Anti-, MiPOesias, Blue Fifth Review, Avatar Review and elsewhere.