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Common pawpaw

Common Pawpaw:
Poetry by Isaiah Yonah Back-Gaal

from Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park through Poetry

 

Common pawpaw

 

Common Pawpaw

for Vicky
 

We were so sure of ourselves. Time
after time turning leaves to measure

the relative degree of waxiness against
the three-pronged symmetry of their veins,

photosynthetic power as a principle of green
warmth. We were always wrong.

So adept at identifying the incorrect
tree, which is to say we introduced ourselves

to strangers and still received bashful
rustling. What did we do to deserve

such patience? Friend, you are deep morning
breaths and hefty breakfasts. Your limbs arc

towards secure and fertile ground. The woods
are a disco for your dancing and someone is there,

calling out your name, which echoes,
which means you have never been

alone. Someone wraps you in lace
to hold your blooms, which, red and heavy

as a well-worn organ, hang downwards.
Do they ring out to the grieving earth

below, to a beetle, to a lover, standing just
a little ways off? Did you know, scientists call

this kind of flower perfect? Light enters
the grove. We leave with only each other,

and a glimpse of a future overcome with fruit.

 
Common Pawpaw, Asimina triloba

 

 

Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park through PoetryThis excerpt was originally published in Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park through Poetry, edited by Charles Malone, Carrie George, and Jason Harris (Kent State University Press, 2024). It is reprinted with permission of the press.

A literary hike through Ohio’s oldest national park. An anthology celebrating the biodiversity and staggering beauty of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Light Enters the Grove collects 80 poems, each of which reflects its author’s unique connection to a living organism found within the park—ranging from white-tailed deer to brown bats and from Japanese honeysuckle to bloodroot. Additionally, each poem is paired with an artistic depiction of the poem’s subject that reinforces the rich relationship between artists and the natural world.

Learn more and purchase the book.

Isaiah Yonah Back-GaalBased in Columbus, Ohio, Isaiah Yonah Back-Gaal is a queer poet, climate justice organizer, and drag performer. They are currently an MFA candidate in creative writing at the Ohio State University and managing editor for The Journal. Their work has received support from Seventh Wave Magazine and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

Read Isaiah Yohah Back-Gaal’s Climate Stories in Action poem appearing in Terrain.org, “Public Utilities Commission Case 23323EL550 Public Hearing.”

Header image, Common Pawpaw, by Each+Every, courtesy Kent State University Press.