The Medium is the Message

Irina Moga

1.

A bumblebee in a maze of petals
spawning pollen grains
scattered in the yellow haze of its flight.
The presage of modality encasing

the essence of late afternoons:
hours without minutes
our senses abuzz
before the dusk sets in.

2.

Have you lifted hibiscus stems,
experienced their circadian rhythm,
the nyctinasty that closes off the flowers once
the daylight is gone?

My body understands the succession of night
and dawn in your presence
like an horologium florae
on the brink of a whisper.

The Science

This poem is inspired by my google search on symbiosis. Internet sources indicate that there are four main types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, and competition. Pollination is a prominent symbiotic relationship linking flowering plants and insects. It involves a mutual exchange where both participants derive advantages: a host plant receives the valuable service of insect pollination while offering a reward to its insect pollinator in return. It felt interesting to provide a poetic commentary to pollination.

The Poet

Irina Moga is a trilingual poet (English, French and Romanian), member of The Writers’ Union of Canada and the author of several poetry collections. Her latest poetry book, Variations sans palais, (Éditions L’Harmattan, Paris, 2020) was awarded the international literary prize Dina Sahyouni in 2022. Irina’s work has appeared in literary magazines such as Canadian Literature, carte-blanche, and NYQ Magazine, and has been nominated for the Pushcart prize and 2023 Best of the Net. Website: www.irinamoga.com; Twitter: @pictopoems.

Next poem: Together by Geraldine Murray