You flutter past my passenger-side window,

bouncing through turbulence,

wings luminous: a velvet Elvis

under black light, collar glowing, satin

lamb chops rising and falling on hinges.

 

I hold you sacred as The King, high

in the ranks of poetic muse,

worthy of praise, tears, and standing ovations.

 

Such silk quavers, rendering my thoughts

into dangerous swiveling hips.

 

 

 

“Traffic Jam, Butterfly” originally appeared in Southern Gothic online.

 

Joy Beshears holds a BA from Salem College and an MFA in Creative Writing from  Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry has appeared in various journals and  anthologies including Surreal South, Main Street Rag, BREVITY, Southern Gothic Online,  R-KV-R-Y Quarterly, Poet’s Canvas, THRIFT, In the Yard: A Poetry Anthology, Mountain Time, and Caesura.  Her poem, “Rapture” was chosen by Kathryn Stripling Byer as Honorable Mention in  the 2006 NC State Poetry Contest.

Viktorie Lexova is an artist living in the Czech Republic and maintains an account on Flickr.