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I Think That I Shall Never See...
"Seeing a tree as a praying figure is
somewhat hackneyed."
—from a poetry textbook
I know what I see:
The blue spruce outside my window
kneels for morning prayers.
Meanwhile, the oak across the street
scratches the back of the tired sky
and a small bush next door
embraces the innocent sparrow.
And I know what I know:
how the seasons forgive and
restore the dormant and listless:
butterfly, moth, scorpion, insatiable
medfly, militant hornet, who knows what.
Let's face it: everything needs help.
even this cocoon where my mind
takes solace in its barky recesses
can feel the reverent trees' new breath.
Any second now: exultant branches!
a choir of leaves! O!
Iowa Poem
—Winter, Oregon
Winter, and father writes
from our white farm in Iowa,
How's the weather out there?
Have you found a suitable church?
What can I say?
The weather, father, it rains.
The grass is unnaturally green
and everyone's sick with the flu.
All this water
without any corn to drink it—
it all goes to waste in the sea.
But the weeds go on growing
and our soles rot from our feet.
Of course, there aren't any churches.
I've been out with umbrella searching
but the sky's too dark for steeples.
Father, let me say, Don't worry.
We'll all be all right, here or there.
In my hands there still lives a farmer
pulling weeds from this barren wet earth;
In my chest there's still a believer
praying for a clear cold sky.
JIM HEYNEN
is known to most readers for his short-short stories. But Heynen was first of all a
poet. He received his MFA in creative writing at the University of Oregon. His first
book of poems, A Suitable Church, was published by Copper Canyon Press
in 1988. His poetry has appeared in The Georgia Review, Poetry Northwest, The
South Dakota Review and elsewhere.
Visit the author's website at www.jimheynen.com
"I Think That I Shall Never See..." and
"Iowa Poem" are from Heynen's new and selected poems: Standing Naked
(Confluence Press, 2001)
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