Two Poems by Peter Vertacnik

The Yellowjackets Speak

“Most homeowners consider yellowjackets a pest, but their diet actually makes them an important part of garden pest control.”—www.pestworld.org

You recognized too late we were not bees
and, stung repeatedly too near our nest
in the garden you were certain you possessed,
immediately deemed us enemies.

Even just one disrupted barbecue
was more than you could handle. “Kill them now!”
you squealed in comic rage, making a vow
to see us dead, yet careful to eschew

the act by calling on professionals,
who showed up promptly in protective gear
and felt, it seemed, neither disgust nor fear,
just as you felt guiltless. No confessionals

were needed here. In fact, you looked empowered.
Your flowers, though, will slowly be devoured.

Seasonal

     When glaciers and ice caps abate,
   when aerosols have hacked the atmosphere,
          when just two seasons survive
               (rainy and warm, dry and hot),
          when those of us alive,
               lucky or not,
     behold the weather’s flattened fate
   like rulers who’ve ignored a seer,
autumn will still adorn our sight
with distinct, unscathed angles of light.

Peter Vertacnik's poems and translations have appeared (or are forthcoming) in The New Criterion, The Hopkins Review, Literary Matters, Poet Lore, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Water~Stone Review, among others. A finalist for the 2021 Donald Justice Poetry Prize, he currently attends The University of Florida.