“Held at the Roots” by Jennifer Crow

Soil holds secrets: ground truths
and hidden bones, fine filaments
stretching from solid trunks
and ancient fungal growths
ingesting strength from decay
and broken stones. We become
the sap of the world, our brief
and fluid existence cradled
in the crook of root and runner,
skull-faced traitors bearing axe
and grudge to the fire. Kindle
tales of slow vengeance spreading
from ring to ring, years etched
in lines dark or bright, the forest
recalling every sharp edge
laid against branch and bark
and waiting for time to bury us all.

Jennifer Crow‘s work has appeared in numerous print and electronic venues over the past quarter of a century, most recently in Not One of Us, Star*Line, and the Along Harrowed Trails anthology.