moment, molecule

moment, molecule

by Paris Elizabeth Sea


the smallest of dots

sits under skin

ink kissing pigment in a blended

hue—rose or lavender

what could be flower, ribbon scroll

every mother’s name

runs in the family like freckles

or willingness to burn

peeling afterward, resistant, careless

hiding among roses and skulls

unborn chemistry inscribed

in the helices, turning on

there inside each moment, molecule

the smallest of dots, multiplying


-refers from “moment, molecule”  in Laura McCullough’s poem Longing