Tuesday poem #650 : Marita Dachsel : Seaside Juniper

 

 

The man tells me what I believe
to be everything he knows
about this very special tree. And in the moment
I, too, am in love with it. I want to see one,
touch its shaggy bark, its spindly
needles, hold its blue berries, inhale
its essence. Days later, I have
forgotten almost everything.
There was something interesting
about its seeds and a certain insect,
something interesting about gin.
I recall that colonization continues
to be its biggest enemy, but that's
the way it is with most things around here.
I wish passion was more easily replicated
or retained but perhaps this ability
to slough the desires of others has saved me.
A person can only hold so much.

 

 

 

 

Marita Dachsel is the author of the poetry collections There Are Not Enough Sad Songs, Glossolalia, All Things Said & Done, and the play Initiation Trilogy. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry, the ReLit Prize, and the Acorn-Plantos Award for People’s Poetry. Her play Initiation Trilogy was nominated for both a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script and The Critics’ Choice Innovation Award. Most recently, she co-edited Sharp Notions: Essays from the Stitching Life with Nancy Lee. She is an assistant teaching professor in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan