and redwoods how
they lean
into the hillside
holding on with shallow
roots their shade
an awning
a deep friendship
a busy woman
in this forest
of beings far greater
than her
can settle into
they stand
seeking just light
fog and water while
she rushes down
her creek-bed
of tasks and regrets
sits on a rock
listening to what
she cannot translate
do tall trees get tired
of growing do
they miss their mother
or father
can they feel the fire
when it comes
are they afraid
the brook trills itself over
its path down to a time
when it will run out
of itself until rain
plants its hands
on needles barks
and roots this wet
this nurture in dirt
only trees only being
and expanding
no rush except current
no pressure only flow
only mild spice
wild sweetness
rooted into understory
even shallowness
spread wide is enough
—
Phyllis Klein is a psychotherapist and poet from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including The Comstock Review, Sweet, 3Elements, I-70, The Minnesota Review, and Swwim Everyday, among many others. She was a finalist in the Sweet Poetry Contest (2017), the Carolyn Forché Humanitarian Poetry Contest (2019), and the Fischer Prize (2019). Her book, The Full Moon Herald, from Grayson Books (2020), has won poetry finalist from the Eric Hoffer Book Award (2021). During the Pandemic she started a reading called Poets in Conversation.
