The Imaginal Stage 

turns out
there are more planets than stars
more places to land
than to be burned

I have always been in love with
last chances especially 
now that they really do 
seem like last chances

the trill of it all upending
what’s left of my head
after we explode

are you ready to ascend
in the morning I will take you
on the wing
Credit

Copyright © 2019 by D. A. Powell. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on March 28, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“An imago is, for many winged insects, the final form of its metamorphosis. The plural of imago is imagines, and this time in the insect's life is called the imaginal stage. The insect at this point has reached sexual maturity and has also earned its wings.”
—D. A. Powell