Jon Riccio

At the Nunnery-Nursery

Chrysanthemums reify a thistle, daylilies crease Fatima dirt. Piety floral, order arboreal—
prayer theorem’s petal dictum or feast aster.

Oxidation mars saint statues, soil beds siphon sandalrust. Once hostas now halo,

this convent chlorophyll. A lay minister’s damnation sermon: 

lock punitive and pejorative in the highwire factory. Whoever pushes fist. 

Jon Riccio's Agoreography was published in 2022 by 3: A Taos Press. He teaches literature and creative writing at Beijing Jiaotong University and the University of West Alabama.