poet painter and junebug

This feels like a small, dreamlike meditation on identity, creation, and being released into a new form. I liked the way the junebug becomes both the speaker and a kind of living artwork, constantly changing through the painter’s lines, stripes, and colors. The connection between poet and painter is especially interesting—the idea that “the poet paints the painter and the painter paints the poet” gives the piece a circular, almost spiritual feeling. The repeated references to signs, freedom, worthiness, and the Lord make it read like a personal prayer or vision. There’s a rough, unpolished quality to the language, but that also makes the voice feel intimate and immediate. “May my stripes be made new” was the line that stayed with me most.