through the humid forest
yellow plasmodium
Author: Dave Bonta
I live in an Appalachian hollow in the Juniata watershed of central Pennsylvania, and spend a great deal of time walking in the woods. My books of poetry include FAILED STATE: HAIBUN, ICE MOUNTAIN: AN ELEGY, BREAKDOWN: BANJO POEMS, and ODES TO TOOLS.
humid forest
the stream’s
ghostly double
fallen
bird’s nest of roots
nowhere to turn
mountain
aficionado
of clouds
heat lightning
the meadow’s whisper
of crickets
trailside camp
the Indian cucumber root’s
second story
stopping for the view
an inchworm’s pure green
on my hat brim
coffin-shaped spring
the plucked banjo string
of a tanager
rain still falling from the trees
wood thrush song
the millipede’s carnival colors
I forget where I am
half-way up the mountain
a whiff
of the river
up slope
on all fours
the growl in my chest
