REDWOOD FLOODWATCH
Below the radar
Used up
I’ve forgotten
what to write...
Historically
Geographically
GUERNEVILLE
Redwood decks, a middle-class colonialism
I don’t write
when morning comes,
a bell, the terror of quotidian
Heaven in a coffee pot
Winter rain
90,000 W/OUT POWER
No, I haven’t forgotten
what to write. I have a list.
FLOOD LEVEL- 32 FT
RUSSIAN RIVER TO CREST AT 46 FT
“What’s your address in the redwoods?”
Redwood, “Sequoia sempervirens
A very tall, evergreen, coniferous tree
“Sequoia, Cherokee who invented Cherokee alphabet
Sempervirens means ‘ever-living’”
And beyond that:
A POT OF CHICKEN
SQUASH ONIONS MUSHROOMS
IN WOOD STOVE
Components
Constructs
“Native to coastal ranges
of southern Oregon and central and northern California,
having small seed-bearing cones
with peltate scales and unflattened branches.”
CREEKS SPILLS SEEPS FALLS
“Some Native Americans stripped bark off redwood trees
to gather sweeter cambium layers for food”
Hot tub in the redwoods
HIGH WINDS OFF PACIFIC BLOW DOWN
FROM ALASKA BAY
Donald says he’ll show me how to climb a redwood
Listen to wood stove
(Audible)
RED CROSS
Shuffle wood in stove
BLIZZARD IN SIERRAS
Dennis says,
“Do you believe it, you own all these trees!
“You own me,” I tell the trees
(under the stars)
Begin again
Continue
Pretend
Preview
Vacuum carpet downstairs
“One of the survival strategies of redwood trees
is ability to sprout from bud tissue called burl”
HIGHEST TIDE OF THE YEAR
“If a tree falls, logged, or trunk damaged,
the burl can be triggered to start sprouting new growth”
EVACUATION
(Audible)
“The sprouts use the root system
of the parent tree and are genetically identical”
Who’s to say they’re not the same tree?
NEW YEAR’S EVE IN THE DARK
Past
Present
Future disconnected
Who wears a hat?
Who discusses this?
Who is? (In the immovable grove)
scratch twitch scratch rumble
NO WAY OUT OF THE CANYON
madrone oak tick black tick toc creek
green mossy coffee mug
“Second-growth redwoods often grow very fast”
CONDITIONS WORSEN (AUDIBLE)
“Often, stumps in old logged-over areas are ringed
by smaller trees that grew from roots of parent tree
These rings are called ‘fairy rings’"
gray hum
Opossum stalks creek with walking stick
MUD SLIDES ROCK SLIDES LAND SLIDES
Submission
Natural O-Currency
EVERY DAY A NEW DESTRUCTION
Needles clog the gutter
Quail scratch bark mulch to find seed
fallen from bird feeder
DEAD DEER IN THE SLOW LANE
What war?
Which war?
Is it ever a good war?
Fog on the deck
What door?
The open one?
What for?
The war?
NERVOUS EYE ON THE HIGHWAY
Oh, The Redwoods!
This New Growth
door
Go ahead, open it!
Frogs!
(audible)
BLUE SKIES
Blue Jays wake the morning
Yes! Come in! Sit!
I’ll be right with you
There’s a war I must finish!
I will win it shortly
December 19-28, 2005
March 3, 2006
—Michael Rothenberg
____
Previously published in Golden Handcuff Review