Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
by Charles Wyatt
Oh moonpenny, dog daisy
poorland flower, poverty weed
gather your skirts about you
your white ray florets
Let us sing of creeping rhizomes
of ribbed seed
viable in soil for 39 years
dark daisy, death daisy
Light up the earth
hand in hand with moldering
fairies, oh human child
gather with your brethren
On the surface of the earth
make a sea of white so many eyes
unwinking make this as happy
as a poem can ever be
Throw overboard your shallow roots
Hold out your broad arms
and begin to sing
So long your silence
Charles Wyatt is the author of two collections of short fiction, a novella, and two poetry collections. He lives in Nashville, TN where he was principal flutist of the Nashville Symphony for 25 years.
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Oxeye Daisy”? “Oxeye Daisy” comes from a sequence called Weeds. In a New York Times interview, Paul Auster said a book called Weeds of the West was on his nightstand. I found it used and began a short sequence. I wanted the poems themselves to look like weeds. Most of them are skinny. I abandoned the sequence after a short time but a few journals have found them interesting. Maybe I’ll give it another go. Incidentally, let me recommend a related book: Weeds, In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants, Richard Mabey. (The book focuses on weeds and their place in the general ecology.)
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
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