AFTER THE PREDICTED STORM
on your steps torn branches from across the road
one and another in freefall
mixture balance a chaos effect
paid in lifesong and with difficult medicine
energy alive in everything
you look away undisturbed
not counting restless sums
blank expressions on neighbors
look above at dispersal
blue sky appears
lights the drying street
illuminates images formed from nothing
brightens memory’s engram
unshadows the store of things unlearned
frost field, wind ripple, drops on wet leaves
vision before action at city in the mountains
conflict moves us to different beats
dance supersedes pow wow
no forked-tongue mannerisms
straight talk on the hour
preconditions marked on speculative maps
all are equal
ingested dreams wear false mask
community close and trustworthy
tell them your uncertainties and of your faults
exposed throat with glitter of desire
pull out the tavern chair and your pocket notebook
Alan Casline is the editor of Normanskill, a watershed anthology from the Normanskill watershed in New York State and is the editor of Rootdrinker, a long standing magazine of watershed poetics, art and nonfiction. As Director of Rootdrinker Institute, his efforts include running open mics and special gatherings for poets, producing the RD Newsletter and using Benevolent Bird Press to publish the work of fellow writers and artists. He is co-founder and on-going chronicler of The Cloudburst Council, an annual poetics gathering held in the Finger Lakes watershed. He lives with his wife, Jennifer Pearce, in a suburban neighborhood outside of Albany, New York.