“For Man is like a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19)
The Redwood rises, surging up,
The Redwood rises, surging up,
Converging where it pierces sky
Capped by mist and cloud,
At the point
Where He is, a bridge to -
I call up, golden haired,
“I long for you."
Leaves rustle down,
“Climb up, then.”
I wince at barbed branches as wind whips,
Cling at gnarled ridges as lightning quivers,
Burrow beneath canopies as rain slaps,
Blink at the sun splitting out from behind
The Redwood’s trunk.
The yearn to rend the red tower in two,
To quicken time and pull space
Towards me, to bridge -
But sky nears drip by drip,
My hair now tired silver.
I gasp out, “Where?”
Leaves ripple all around, “I’m here.”
I brush aside the last tendril,
And meet wisps of cloud.
No, one?
No, one?
This is a beautiful poem. Assuming I understand correctly, it conveys the challenge that people have of feeling close to G-d on this earth. I really like the picture you painted of the lifelong struggle but that there is never a thought to give up. The metaphor of climbing a hazardous tree was spot-on. I only take issue with your last line, "No-one." What are you trying to say here? That G-d is not waiting for you?
ReplyDeleteI love this poem. its so deep. I'm confused with how you end the first stanza with "a bridge to - ". Is there suppose to be a word there? I found the poem to be talking about how G-d is everywhere, that when you climb to the top you wont find him because He's in the very tree that you've been climbing- He's been there all along. you did a beautiful job on this poem.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful written and patient poem, I really love it Gabriella! You really skillfully described a lifetime of trying to reach the divine and illustrate an otherwise difficult to describe two way relationship. Your language, as always, is descriptive and beautiful! I'm curious why you chose a red wood? Is it a specific symbol?
ReplyDeleteI adore this poem. It is a seemingly simple narrative with that packs a punch to the reader. I especially love the way the poem ends with the implication that we are all striving for something that doesn't exist. I like that hopeless vibe you have going on. The imagery was also vivid, especially the line about the sky nearing drip by drip.
ReplyDeleteI love this metaphor about painful progression through life- particularly how you begin "golden-haired" which progresses to "my hair now tired silver". Love using the redwood as an impossibly tall, straight natural structure that seems to meet the sky, and also seems to imply that perhaps straight up is not the way to go. Love it!
ReplyDeleteSo, first, this poem made me reread it about five times, and that's a good sign. I think it's because you manage a delicate balance between meaning and ambiguity. The poem exists so well on the border between clarity and mystery that it keeps pulling me back.
ReplyDeleteWhile this isn't the most musical poem you have written, it is a notably succesful controlling metaphor for the reason just stated. Here's how I see it:
First of all, the epigraph clarifies that we are all the trees, so any reading of the poem must account for that, as I see it. The opening stanza positions us on a threshold between the sacred and the ordinary. The tree's point in the sky is a metaphor for spiritual elevation and oneness with God.
But just as the speaker arrives at that point, the singular nature of how God was manifest vanishes. This, as I take it, is why there is that peculiar hyphen in the phrase "no one" which normally is two separate words. I also noted that the hyphen seems to have a space before and after it, which is odd.
It is interesting that the vanishing act at the end of the poem is not accompanied by an emotional response. There is no sense of loss or disappointment presented, which indicates the vanishing may not be such a bad thing.
Maybe it is the calling that is most important, not the arrival, at least in this world. These are some of the things the poem inspired me to consider.
I thought the interrupted lines were like that to indicate an interrupted process of understanding the nature of the divine. Worked for me. I thought the verb "wrinkle" in the first line of the penultimate stanza was perhaps off. I certainly cannot SEE that image, and I think it may be a problem with this verb.
Updated on March 7, 2017.
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