in this bruised field
Apr. 14, 2020
lean down in to
prepare for a landing
angle my body so not a flower is destroyed
crush a few
setting my head on the earth
so the horizon is full
of blue maize, smelling like fresh pressed
tortillas, mind
akimbo and filling holes
there is something so beautiful about a disease
taking
over a hill
Siberian Squill is invasive
blooms first
in hollows where you didn’t
think anything could grow and
what is so beautiful
is not its violet destruction but that one
living thing is tangled
with another, my friend
finds magic in the idea that he is reading
a piece of Russian literature in this
bruised field, the book smuggled out of
the Soviet Union imprinted
on microfiche like a seed
snuck in the sole of a boot
or a massacre packed in the roots
of your mother’s lung last
night in an act of resistance we all drank
a round of Moscow mules
so strong they could plow you, John
Prine died today
have you heard his song when I get to heaven? listen,
in this reckless
way is every growing thing ruptured
together
This poem was part of collection of “Lockdown Poems” written weekly near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A small number of typewritten prints were offered for sale.
Some of the poems were also printed onto artwork by artist Endriu (J. Andrew Gilbert) in a collaborative art project. You can find Endriu’s art here.