Ode to Colchicum autumnale
Rent from DeepDyve- Ode to Colchicum autumnale
Ode to Colchicum autumnale
When does it take its root in you,colchicine, this poisonthat knows no antidote?Through spring when your starkgreen stalks get lost asother petals slut themselvesup to the sun, translucent with ease,and the fruit trees jutjaunty brancheslike hips poppedto balance all they've birthed?Or in summer, huskedby high heat, witheredand pluckedin embarrassment?Or later, even, as you lie buriedwith your failings?Unaware of the sleeping star curledwithin you, or how soon nowit will tendrilto burst, bold and naked,up from the dark earth. [End Page 188]
Christina Lee has work published or forthcoming in Cream City Review, Tin House's "Broadside Thirty," the Seattle Times, Stirring, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Seattle, where she teaches poetry through the WITS program.
