Four Pieces by Kevin McIlvoy

Kevin McIlvoy’s work was recently presented in The Common, along with a note in remembrance of him from faculty member C. Dale Young. Read an excerpt of the poem, “Where does the tree-of-heaven grow?” and find a link to the full article below:

Where does the tree-of-heaven grow?

On mine spoil. In debris fields
of asphalt and concrete and brick.
Upon sites of chemical spills.
Along lifeless riverbanks.
In clonal groves so hardy you
have to steel yourself for years
of killing to kill one acre.

Where construction crews rake off
the surface anywhere near
unquiet graves, the trees return,
identically weedy, wild,
their rattling seed profusions
exploding in rippling flight, their
oldest spreading scissoring shade.

Continue reading here: Kevin McIlvoy | The Common