basswood the splittrunk said
see everything dies
rootrot for me
ashborer horror for the ash
mindmelt for your significant
other humanhalf
bonedust sawdust lifelitter
the goodearth inherits us
peckerholes and antriddles
spell codewords in barkskin
and brainhusk— runes
for your poem to decipher
Poem by Karla Linn Merrifield
Karla Linn Merrifield has 16 books to her credit, including her new full-length poetry collection published in December 2021; it’s titled My Body the Guitar, from Before Your Quiet Eyes Holograph Series, which has been nominated for the 2022 National Book Awards. https://www.karlalinnmerrifield.org/; https://karlalinnmerrifeld.wordpress.com/