northern red oak (Quercus rubra)
english version
by Dani “dan” Cole
walking by
each hour, wind
signaling
spring
leaves rattle
inevitability
of catching air
flight delayed as
petiole awaits
release
you’ve held on
Fagaceae in still-
frame marcescence
hypotheses abound
as to why
i like to think
you keep winter
less quiet
dried pinnate leaves
signaling
we need time
sounding through biting air
when you’re heard best
thick skins
awaiting return,
pestling by feet into
cement, particles strewn by
reasons of air
walking by as
buds swell
what was there
enough now
to fly forth
Snowdrops
by Louise Glück
Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know
what despair is; then
winter should have meaning for you.
I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn’t expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring–
afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy
in the raw wind of the new world.
Jewelweed and Poison Ivy
by jerise
Jewel to Ivy:
“leaves of three, let her be”:
you protect yourself with oil,
clever, hairy, green beauty:
but I know your secret—and
i know how to…
Ivy to Jewel:
you gleaming thing
i can’t look away from you:
i protect myself,
but i’m no match
for your explosive
kiss
Dandelion
by jerise
diente de león,
you are a lion with sharp teeth
stretching and preening in the sun;
your golden blossom explodes in fire;
your roots stand strong,
push miles down into the earth,
stable, penetrating, soothing, immovable.
Your sharp deep green leafy teeth nourish me;
your myriad seeds, their little tufted ponchos catching drifts of wind,
pieces of cosmic fluff, scatter to the sky.
You are my protective mother sun-lion.
I curl up around your stem,
under your golden umbrella,
settle down to sleep in your green toothy foliage,
dreaming inside your warm savannah.
Crabgrass
by jerise
Fingergrass, Fonio, Pride of Hou Ji, de la Tribu del Mijo,
sweet daughter of Shennong,
you rise early in spring
from your grassy bedspread
of slender finger-leaves
to fling your seeds of power
upwards:
inflorescence!
Out of ancient Africa, you travelled far:
India, Asia, Europe, and leaping
across the seas,
sister of sorghum, ragi, and teff,
Sanoussi Diakité husked you, and
Polish mothers brought you tenderly
to the shores of Manahatta
for your beautiful warm grain,
good for heart and head,
destined to feed multitudes.
Mulberry
by jerise
most of the things in the world are broken today
i stopped by the side of the walk
and took a handful of mulberries
from the same tree
that was feeding
a multitude of birds