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[some_stars]

this is the poem i just sent off to the rest of my class for workshop next week. and i am actually sort of fond of it, so i present it to you!

What the Forest Asked of You

To know. Believe to know. To understand.
To pull the branch down low, hold it taut,
The power contained between your fingers. Gravity,
Cellulose, water, the thin skin of bark
Holding the water in. Then to let go,
Flurry of leaves, chattering, the deep vibrations,
Amplitude decreasing steadily. The minutest tremor
To be felt in the trunk, the faintest nod.
The twig takes its place among the branches.
Motion dissipates. And you have never been
There, your feet not patchy with mud, nor under them
The uneven roll of roots, your hands are dry
And empty. Unscraped. Clean beneath your fingernails.

What did you want in life? Were you loved?
Here the pool is shallow, you can see the bottom
Clear. The gentle brown ovals, your bare toes stroking
The algae, that soft beard, slick with life
That climbs above the waterline, considers,
Retreats again. Cold water humming quietly,
Slow movement. The plane of the surface tickles your calves.
In any direction, you move through it. Solitary penny-
Soft stream of the waterfall, no higher than
A dozen feet above your head. Background music.
On the high rock you keep safe your socks and sneakers,
Warming themselves in the sun. Eight inches deeper,
Perhaps you could float. Unbinding.
To your knees. Lie down flat. Unnoticed
As you depart, your shadow ripples
Clear-edged over the creek bed.

To carry feed for animals. They'll say you died
And you won't care, damp and soft all through, you are
Relieved of what you could not carry. For it dissipates,
The pain that hung from you like wet sand, bags of soil:
Out through the bones of the world it goes,
Weaving itself into brittle flakes of bark,
Growing from the tips of my fingers, moon-shaped and strong.
They'll say you died, and I won't understand, even as,
That moment passing, I breathe you in.