Old
trees
gather
the shadow
under
themselves
and the women themselves
grow old
and here, under
the gnarled arms of ancient trees,
wrapped in the shadows
of their lives, they gather—
crones—silver hair stuck through with leaves—gather,
tell stories and laugh at themselves,
wrinkled faces and clouded eyes welcome shadows.
Clad in memories and omens they touch the old
wooden goddess in the twisted torsos of trees.
Bodies bend and bow under
burdens of sorrow and rage, but do not break beneath
their weight. In the face of pain they gather
from far-off lands and next door. Among the trees
they gaze at each other and find themselves
in bark and tear-stained countenance. They are too old
for monthly issues of blood, too old to deny shadows,
but the world provides enough bloody darkness.
Yet they have found a strange vegetable joy under
these sacred branches. With the wisdom of the old
they leave the grove. The crones gather
daughters and granddaughters to themselves
and teach them. They teach them to plant trees—
oaks—ceibas—baobabs—figs—banyans—cedars—
seeds of defiance, diversity, hope—the shadows
of trees are generous and shelter all who come to them,
shelter from rain and sun and wind, the roots under
their feet grasp rocky soil. Timeworn and seedling together,
women and trees, with the dark queen, stand bold.
We plant ourselves, raise arms like old tree-branches,
cast our shadows under the sun. In blood and leaves
the whole world gathers and will never be the same.
Italicized lines from W. S. Merwin’s “Morning Near the End of May” provide the title and the first stanza/end-words for this sestina.
—
Janet Ruth is a retired research ornithologist and poet. Her writing focuses on connections to the natural world. Her sonnet, “A World That Shimmers,” won the 2023 True Concord Poetry Contest, was set to music by the winning Emerging Composer, and was performed by True Concord Voices and Orchestra in Tucson in 2023. Her first book, Feathered Dreams: celebrating birds in poems, stories & images was a Finalist for the 2018 NM/AZ Book Awards. redstartsandravens.com/janets-poetry/
