Do the trees know how tall they are?
Do they care?
What if their columns of wood aren’t torsos but legs?
What if a root-ball is just a way to shape and squeeze
a giant, gnarly tree head
pack it in a burlap bag
and stuff it in the soil
face first, diving for the dirt
sapling legs flopping
the tapered silicon encrusted roots
not feet and toes
but tangled braids and weaves of filaments, strands of hair,
and pulpy dreadlocks worming through the soil?
And what if all its life the tree does its best thinking
with its head stuck upside down
like an ancient voodoo doll, impaled in the muck and mire of earth?
So no one could imagine
that all day long and into nighttime too
the trees find sustenance from what lies dead and buried,
inhaling everything that’s left behind
the damp loamy pungency of rotten forest litter
and acres of putrefying, decomposing cells,
each tree sipping, and sucking, and gulping
cavernous mouthfuls of dark decay.
And what if the tree trunks aren’t torsos
but long legs without trousers
that dangle up, not down, from the crotch of the earth
their hips, and thighs, and calves, and leafy feet and toes
stretching towards the sun
flippering water in that big light?
So many happy handstands and cart-wheels are these woods
So many giant, unobtrusive stanchions of song
Limned in wonder now from freshly fallen snow
So what if some in time lose their grip, and tilt, and sway, and topple?
So many more keep standing, holding up each other and the sky.
Juniata Smart is a professor at Clarion University in Clarion, Pa., where she teaches Beginning Creative Writing, Creative Nonfiction Prose, and three courses she developed: Autobiographical Writing, Documentary Writing, and “Authors and Animals.” Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in local literary publications including The Watershed Journal and The Bridge Literary Arts Journal. A sense of “place” is integral to her writing life and she finds her best ideas while rambling through the wild, local Pennsylvania game lands “off leash” with her dogs Gabe, Katey, Wilson, and Liberty.
This article was originally published in The Watershed Journal Literary Magazine’s Winter 2021 Edition, released January 22, 2021
The Watershed Journal Literary Group is a grassroots, autonomous, nonprofit organization located in the western Pennsylvania Wilds. The Watershed Journal believes in the power of storytelling, in both visual and written forms, as a way to transcend our perceived differences and inspire one another. The Watershed Journal also believes in the transcendent influence of the natural world, dynamically apparent in our region of the state. The mission of The Watershed Journal is to foster a literary community by publishing a quarterly, custom-printed and designed magazine as an inclusive platform for the written word and visual storytelling of our region, engage with the general public as well as empower our readers and writers. The Watershed Journal produces a quarterly literary magazine, runs the Watershed Books & Literary Arts Center, hosts monthly Writer’s Block Party meetings, publishes long-form books, promotes local authors, creates a podcast, writes blogs, provides resources and more.
Author: Guest Contributor
The Pennsylvania Wilds is home to more than 2 million acres of public land, 50 state game lands, 29 state parks, 8 state forests, 2 National Wild & Scenic Rivers, abundant wildlife, hundreds of miles of land and water trails, some of the darkest skies in the country, and the largest elk herd in the northeast.
The PA Wilds team is grateful to share the many stories of this region through the words and images of our talented guest contributors.