Commonweal Magazine
Published on Commonweal Magazine (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Home > Out at the Root

Shore pine on the sea cliff,

perennial axletree on which

stars wheel—waves of the highest

 

high tide have half-unearthed

its hold. The intricate rootwork

that like sight of the covenant’s ark

 

none should know, hangs exposed:

rainwashed, rope-thick roots scaffold

the vacancy where cliff was, and ends

 

of ripped rhizome, thread-thin,

pulse droplets like rosaries broken

continually. The upper canopy un-greens

 

needle by needle; the low notched

branch-ends interlock to gnash

in wind. Even its sudden hush is a harsh

 

suspension between constellation’s cog

and log undressed by waves, ring by ring.

The immanence of no returning

 

deity inheres in its last distress.

It is a high unblessed separateness,

at last. At last, it is relentless.

—Brandon Krieg

Issue: 
2012-08-17 [1]
Tags
Poetry [2]

Brandon Krieg is the author of a poetry collection, Invasives (New Rivers Press), a finalist for the 2015 ASLE Book Award in Environmental Creative Writing. He lives in Kalamazoo, Mich. and is a founding editor of the Winter Anthology: www.winteranthology.com [3].

Please email comments to [email protected] [4] and join the conversation on our Facebook page [5].

Share
  • Share [6]
  • Twitter [7]
  • Print [8]

Newsletter

Commonweal's latest, delivered twice weekly

 
 

Subscribe

How you can read Commonweal

Subscribe

Donate

Support Commonweal's future

Donate

Source URL:https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/out-root

Links
[1] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/node/29845 [2] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/poetry [3] http://www.winteranthology.com [4] mailto:[email protected] [5] http://www.facebook.com/commonwealmagazine [6] http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/out-root [7] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/out-root [8] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/print/32865