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