V. P. Loggins is the author of several poetry collections, most recently The Wild Severance (2021), where “Cattails in Autumn” first appeared. The Wild Severance is the winner of the 26th Annual Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition as well as many other awards. His poems and articles have appeared in The Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Crannog (Ireland), and many other national and international publications. He and his wife reside in Annapolis.—Janice F. Booth
Cattails in Autumn
Like a marshmallow on the end of a stick, the half-spent cattail held its last seeds before winter forced the final eruption of soft and airy whisperings into light. The sun fell on the boggy bank where each step I took oozed with muddy water as we cut and bundled them. Sometimes my brother and I would make swords of the stems and lance each other in mock battles where the seeds would break away. Sometimes all it took was for us to blow on the ends like candles and the chill air would burst with white fireworks that floated on the endless breeze. And always I felt a little sadness as I watched with a child’s joy the air take the seeds. So many I couldn’t count them. So bright in the September sun. Dispersing beyond my reach, my vague desire to keep what could not be kept.
By V.P. Loggins
