The Magnolia of Mongolia
        Would make a lovely sight.
Its glossy leaves would herald health,
        Its blooms perfume the night,

By day supplying bird and bee
        The nectar they have made.
(It wouldn’t hurt to pitch a yurt
        Beneath the boughs’ deep shade.)

The scattered towns would flourish, filled
        With verdant avenues
Of julep joints and sidewalk spots
        Where buskers play the blues.

Most of the country, though, lies on
        A high and windy plain
With bitter cold most of the year
        And hardly any rain

Where nomads might quite well resent
        The broken sightline and
A baffled yak just might attack
        The strange thing on its land.

For these reasons and for others,
        A rather lengthy list,
The Magnolia of Mongolia
        Does not, in fact, exist


J.D. Smith has published two collections of poetry in 2021: the light verse collection Catalogs for Food Lovers and the free verse collection Glenn Danzig Carries Cat Litter. His first fiction collection, Transit, will be published in 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Smith works as an editor in Washington, DC, where he lives with his wife Paula Van Lare and their rescue animals.