scarecrow poetics/essays

i
The gale was among the woods, wading –
On the brink of my hearing.

Foliage clotted from the dark outcroppings
In my bedroom – then immediately

The path, straight through to the heart.

I slept with an eyeful of stars.

Mum sat with me all night
And slipped away before I woke up.

ii
The evergreens are standing around,
Trembling open,

But the wind has broken the redwoods.

The new clearing gapes like a mouth full of broken teeth –
Flashes where the sky’s bulk snags. This

Was a walk’s darkest stretch,
Where any sunlight scattered

In flies’ wings.


Merrick Palmer © 2005