A Thrill

In recent years, I have enjoyed reading the online poetry journal Juniper. I recommend it to all who delight in fine writing. Founded in Toronto in 2017 by Lisa Young and published every February, June, and October, it “seeks poems that bring the reader back to themselves and leave them with a deeper understanding of the world(s) in which they live.” Such a noble aim is comforting indeed, and a restorative change from poems that turn only narrowly inward or try to impress with stylistic novelty or flash.

February’s Volume 6, Issue 3, thrilled me with the exquisite imagery of Russell Thornton’s “Hummingbird in that Second”, opening with the stunning metaphors “In that second, the hummingbird / is a green electron in two places simultaneously, / a glass of green liquor brewed millennia ago, /a miniature green time machine, /a fistful of purple-green air before thunder, / a green moon orbiting almost too quickly for us to see…”

But best to awaken your senses is to luxuriate in the entire poem, along with others in this issue that delight, online now at https://juniperpoetry.com/hummingbird-in-that-second-by-russell-thornton/.