Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Wrigley

Author:Robert Wrigley [Wrigley, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101592632
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

THE HISTORY OF GODS

When a lesser species rises among them

to consume the sun immemorially theirs,

redwoods will sometimes let go a great limb

and crush the interloper where it stands,

implying intent and therefore what we know

as consciousness. It is theorized they may be able,

via their massive and elaborate root systems,

to command the groundwater itself, for the benefit

only of their kind—a government and fealty of trees.

Though perhaps what seems intentional

is simply part of the balance they exemplify,

the fallen limb afflicted by a disruption

in the nutrient flow precisely above where a hemlock

or pine has sprung forth, suggesting the decision

is no decision at all but simply cause and effect,

silvicultural machinery, as though it were not the mind

of a god but a body, reflexive to stimulus and wound,

actions neither revenge nor damnation nor self-preservation.

Although the darkness they rise from is their own creation,

and high in their canopies, lichens not found below,

delicate as fog, and birds that might as well be angels.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.