“In the Fifth Month of Lockdown I Plant Clematis,” by John Minczeski (Poetry ’90)

Poetry alum John Minczeski was recently featured in One Art. Read an excerpt of “In the Fifth Month of Lockdown I Plant Clematis” below:

In the Fifth Month of Lockdown I Plant Clematis

The shovel, striking a root, thunked
all the way down to my moist heart.

An acolyte, I knelt to bury the plant to its neck.
Blame me for trusting coincidence

more than fate. Hold me responsible
for rose thorns. The sloping yard hoards

the memory of past glaciers. Have I searched within
for the gravitational field that holds me here?

 

Read the rest of this poem, as well as two others, here: https://oneartpoetry.com/2022/04/10/three-poems-by-john-minczeski/