AMRITA PALAPARTHI
Denali
There is a newness here
In the silence and the stillness
No bird calls, no low rumble of voices
No trees to capture the rustle of the wind
Just rolling hills
And our footfalls on the springy earth
The ground beneath our feet has not yet learned hardness
The grass carpeting the hills hasn’t dreamed to reach above
Even the squirrels wear their tails flat on the floor
As though they haven’t learned to carry them
Perhaps this is the last place
Closer to the beginning of things than the end
The silt turns still water to glass
When we peer over, it reflects only soft skin
No reddened eyes, no weathered palms
How could there be room for the soreness in our bones
For our brows weighed down with memory
In a place so filled with anticipation?
Come, trespass with me
Where the sun is not yet harsh enough
The air still too light to weigh down our lungs
In the delicate, the vulnerable
Here, at the beginning of things
Amrita Palaparthi is a Bay Area native and Computer Engineer. She is fascinated by how small moments spent with the people we care about can shape who we become.
It's not easy getting a book or pamphlet accepted for review these days. So in addition to the regular review section, the One Poem Review feature will allow more poets' to reach a wider audience - one poem featured from a new book/pamphlet along with a cover JPG and a link to the publisher's website. Contact the editor if you have released a book/pamphlet in the last twelve months or expect to have one published. Details here
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