Approaching Death like a Botanist | Jen Rouse

Finger to finger with lake-

suckled cedar. Chewing the

spicy needle of a giant

pine. Would you feather

into the frond of a fern?

Or make your final bed

against a blanket of

mosses? To return again

to discovery. Wondering

what you will grow with

your best cells shed? How

else to greet fear but by

waiting for the ghost of

a birch to walk you from

this place. You remember

her best, dressed as she

always is in her trailing

gown of cloudy skin. Take the

hem of her. To the edge

of every forest. Tell the most

beautiful story of something

risen from ash and loam.

Jen Rouse directs the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cornell College. Her work has appeared in SWWIM, Pithead Chapel, Cleaver, Always Crashing, Mississippi Review, and elsewhere. Her books with Headmistress Press include: Acid and Tender, CAKE, and Riding with Anne Sexton. Find her on Twitter @jrouse.