Poems on Elizabeth Bishop by Top Critiquers

( After Elizabeth Bishop )          
             
             —for Clewless and those suffering anxiety              
             
Poison oak grows beautiful on the vine
its lush leaves inviting to the touch,
think of this as life, at times: biting.

Behind that velvet green lies a subtle itch—
its urushiol blood birthing blisters that will not last,
yet, stake their claim in pain nonetheless.

For everything there is something—
nature ensures that,  Calamine eases
the stinging of rash, Moringa a restless...

She stood there,
slightly ominous with a red hood that covered most of her face,
with a long red coat that reached all the way down to her boots.
“What about her?” I asked him curiously “she looks really cool”,
“Her name is Mother Hood” he responded “but she’s a villain”.
“How can she be a villain is she’s a mother?” I asked surprised,
“Technically she’s not a mother” he said as we glanced at her stance,
menacing like something out of a comic book or a graphic novel.

Then I wondered,
why on earth he would conjure up such a villainous...