Bearded Iris Of Eternity Poem by Felix Bongjoh

(i)

In the wind,
a flame of iris
rising
to stroke

and brush
towering
everlasting life

touching
a flamy tip
melting into stars,

the candle
light's
blathering lips
babbling

with a mountain
stream
flowing, flowing

through
creeping grasses
and thorny
shrubs and vines,

a kingfisher's
flight
halted only
by a dusk
and dawn flame,

the phoenix
rising from
cinder
and rolling ashes

building up
a sky of the bird
that never

chewed or sipped
the fruit

cut off from
every watering mouth
by stars
of the firmament.

(ii)

In the storm
of death,
red flowers
spill blood

and sprout into
red flames,
the fire of life.

The amaranth
gives birth
to the flame
that never dies.

But the red
rose
rises into
the planted star

sowing seeds
of a million stars
to stroll
in a sprawling field,

spiraling
in syzygy
to sky's moon-lit
ceiling.

Hanging
in the arching
rainbow

carrying a parrot's
jacket
of garish feathers

brighter than
a volcano's flames.