Wednesday 17 August 2011

Having Gone West by Jessie Carty

It is a landscape I don’t recognize.
If it wasn’t for the heat, I’d think

of winter, of when things die back
because the vegetation here

rises into spikes, reminding me
of leaf empty trees.

Even the red dirt of the cliffs
could be the Piedmont.

Except here, nothing moves
and the occasional

flower on a cactus is a surprise.
I read somewhere

that bats pollinate in desert climates.
I try to picture that

but the image is too dry, too
thin, until I see it,

the shape of the bats wing
in the unlined rock.


Jessie Carty

6 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

Jessie Carty's writing has appeared in publications such as, MARGIE, decomP and Connotation Press. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks At the A & P Meridiem (Pudding House 2009) and The Wait of Atom (Folded Word 2009) as well as a full length poetry collection,Paper House (Folded Word 2010). Jessie teaches at RCCC in Concord, NC. She is also the photographer and editor for Referential Magazine. She can be found around the web, especially at http://jessiecarty.com where she blogs about everything from housework to the act of blogging itself.

Jessie Carty said...

Thank you for sharing my poem! Can't wait to chat with readers :)

Anonymous said...

I can see the heat shimmer.

CMDoran said...

I love your first line...and later you can't see the image...great visual of a desert. I peeked at Referential Magazine--great idea--will have to stop by from time to time. Thanks for writing.

Gordon Mason said...

Wonderful images.

trump said...

Greetings everyone from the Amish community of Lebanon,Pa. Richard from Amish Stories.