(Im)perishable

Free verse poem written for a collaboration with artist Brenda Gribbin (http://www.bgribbinstudio.com/) for The Artistree Project, presented at Fieldmoot in 2025.

Autumn is seeds’ twilight,
marking their tumbling descent
into the cold, unfeeling dirt.

(a bare kernel)

Like earthen jars, worn and cracked,
they join their kindred clay
to sleep beneath a pall of snow

(dead and buried)

in this unholy holy ground,
this base worms’ feasting hall—
crumbled mountains for masonry
and appointed with withered roots—

(sown in dishonor)

where seeds break open like tombs,
unable to contain the Life within.
A mystery: against all odds,
they shed their shrouds

(raised in glory)

as the first clear notes
of spring’s song sounds,
the sower singing over them:

(Lazarus, come out)