Curl

Photographer - Tobi Brun

Curl

Our community sits with trees,
where we come to speak—
not knowing how to thicken
mossy fuzz so trees will listen;
but our words curl before them
as the shaking of girls’ heads,
all in luxurious order, while
we hold our breath—sharing
exhalation, not as object,
but as the coming inhalation:
a community hairy with roots,
leaves, stomata, where trees
make our words wave, bounce
—we cannot grasp perfect sheen
without their air—so, comb your
snarls among jacks and roots,
voluminous as poetry—sleek
as the tallest woods—beautiful
as chest hair parting beech trees.

Jan Wiezorek writes from Michigan. His work appears, or is forthcoming, in The London Magazine, The Westchester Review, Lucky Jefferson, Loch Raven Review, Minetta Review, Talon Review, Modern Poetry Review, The Passionfruit Review, Sparks of Calliope, The Wise Owl, Poetry Center San José, and The Orchards Poetry Journal, among other journals. He taught writing at St. Augustine College, Chicago, and wrote the ebook Awesome Art Projects That Spark Super Writing (Scholastic, 2011). He posts at janwiezorek.substack.com.