ROUNDEL

E. C. Traganas

Circles twist and swirl —

my garden swells and lures

with dangling loops and whorls

of earth delights

A sugar-ripened peach

cloying stone within

exposes wormy fingers

drunk on honeyed mead

writhing upwards

towards the convex light

hands clasped in silent praise

Globes of gold-hued grapes

glint and burst in sunlit disks

pools of sticky nectar

drowning startled wasps

and swarms of circling bees

Sunflower heads bow low

eyes pocked, necks snapped

seedpods puff and shout

exploding with the season’s glut

One hazelnut throbs and glows

round and warm preserving life

A world in the palm of my hand

Published in Issue No. 12, Somnia et Charta, October 1st, 2025.

Novelist, poet, concert pianist and visual artist E.C. Traganas has published in 100+ literary magazines. She is the founder/director of Woodside Writers, a NYC-based literary forum and Editor-in-Chief of The Woodside Review. www.elenitraganas.com