The Psalmody of Trees We belong to each other. My name inscribed in cursive on your ruddy skin, your leaves falling, shawling me in glorious greenery. What I reflect on you have already seen. Your limbs limn sacred texts pulled from bounty's breezes. Your rustles echo heaven's drum snares and whispering strings. Together we sing in the same choir of air savoring the long syllables of summertide. But what a paradox we are, the soil holding us even as we reach for the clouds.
Philip Kolin is the Distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) and Editor Emeritus of the Southern Quarterly at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published over 40 books, including twelve collections of poetry and chapbooks. Among his most recent titles are Emmett Till in Different States (Third World Press, 2015), Reaching Forever (Poiema Series, Cascade Books, 2019), Delta Tears (Main Street Rag, 2020), Wholly God’s:Poems (Wind and Water Press, 2021), and forthcoming Americorona: Poems about the Pandemic (Negative Capability Press, 2022).
Amethyst Review 