Out of Range by Patricia Hemminger

Patricia Hemminger has earned an Honorable Mention in Streetlight’s 2020 Poetry Contest

Consider the pattern of UV light
directing bees to the flower’s center.

Magnetic fields, unfelt by us
guiding geese in migration.

The low inaudible sounds
elephants hear with approaching kin.

That butterflies stand on a leaf
to taste with their feet.

Tiger moths ultrasonic clicks
jam bats’ echolocation beams.

And snakes have holes in their faces
to detect their prey’s infrared radiation.

I tell you again she is gone forever.
You answer not all things can be seen.

line of geese flying into gray sky
Geese in Flight by U.S. Forest Service. CC license.

Patricia Hemminger
Patricia Hemminger’s experience of growing up in rural UK, along with her science background and love of nature, informs and inspires her poetry. She is a science and environmental writer and was associate editor for Pollution A-Z, published by Macmillan. She holds a PhD in chemistry and is a graduate of NYU’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and of Drew University’s MFA Poetry Program. Her poems have been published in Spillway, Parabola, The Blue Nib, and Tiny Seed Literary Journal, among others.

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