Jane Shlensky introduces the Steve McCurry photograph that inspired her poem at the Art of Poetry event on September 19, 2015. AOP was honored to be part of the first Fall Face To Face in the Foothills Poetry Gathering that Jane and fellow poet, Nancy Posey, coordinated. Art of Poetry co-sponsored the event with Hickory Museum of Art. Photo courtesy of Roger and Ginny Sanford.

Jane Shlensky
FOCUS
after “1994 Procession of Nuns, Rangoon, Myanmar” by Steve McCurry

Rain-slicked streets mirror movement.
Four nuns in pink robes walk single file,
pink umbrellas lifted, stepping through
puddles of reflected color—blue doors,
orange brick, gold trim, green foliage,
their pinkness blurred as sliding solace
peace glazed in the beauty of the moment,
ordinary, everyday, mundane merging
of elements that squeeze the heart
and frame the urban world washed anew.