Marjorie Maddox

Bolt


     After the photograph Bolt of Enlightenment by Paola J. Corso

Each bolt unbolts the brain that’s trained
only to see one dimension.

           Angle your mind toward 
           what’s perpendicular and parallel.

Let thought splinter where it will.
Shadows refuse nails,

           but each bolt’s opening
           fits perfectly your wide-alive eye.

On the other side, imagination
waits with telescopic sight:

           kaleidoscope of insight 
           constructed by you.

Paola J. Corso's Bolt of Enlightenment is a black and white photograph of city steps collaged into symmetric designs.
Paola J. Corso’s Bolt of Enlightenment is a black and white photograph of city steps collaged into symmetric designs. 
Paola Jo Corso is an award-winning author of poetry and fiction books set in her native Pittsburgh, with more public stairways than any other city in the country. She features them in her poetry and photography book, Vertical Bridges as well as art exhibits. 

Marjorie Maddox has published 17 poetry collections—most recently Seeing Things & Small Earthly Space, a story collection, 5 children’s books, and the anthologies Common Wealth and Keystone Poetry. Her middle-grade biography, A Man Named Branch, is just out. www.marjoriemaddox.com.

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