weave of the web by Anna Sykora

if a butterfly
had not shaken her wings
if the air had not wafted
a seed of wheat
if the grain had not grown
where soil lay moist
if a woman hadn’t bent
and seen the seedling
if she didn’t cultivate
more like them
and learn to grind
kernels into flour
if she died with her knowledge
in a drought or flood
or failed to teach her young ones
what she learned
you and I might still be
pent in the heart
of a distant star


Anna Sykora, Hanover, Germany 

After the Fiasco by Anna Sykora

A few new cells
May breathe alone
And hide inside
Old cracks of stone
Or creep through
Seeping ooze.

It’s survival
Life will choose,
_Forgetting our mistakes_.


Anna Sykora, Hanover, Germany