Poem Found Opening a Notebook on a Day a Poet Was Murdered by Agents of the United State’s Government
Photo: Sunset, Jardins des Champs-Élysées, December 1, 1990
Poem Found Opening a Notebook on a Day a Poet Was Murdered by Agents of the United State’s Government
An oak uprooted by the flood
unfinished in its fall
rough against the sky and black
end-of-summer haze
smoking stubble
lifted by the breeze
sparkling in the river’s
glazed surface, the brushfire’s
moonish glow above
the quivering rush of flames
rippling like aurora borealis
troubled by the wind
as before a downpour
creatures rush for shelter
waiting out the storm
the river’s whitecaps
cresting all its currents, the sun
sets behind the centuries
as at the close of autumn
the atmosphere a ribbon of light
across a dark horizon
under hovering crows
stabbing at the sky
where I’m headed
for a glimpse of white
almost accidental.
Hagerdish Farm
Berwich-Upon-Tweed, England
August 28, 2016


An oak, a life. Hearts broken here.