coming up over the hill
then down a chill
into slivered light, a shiver
walking across green, grassy wholeness—
Each step a dislocation of the motion
of the step before—
a fluency
from next to next—
This pattern of being—
the increment wind billowing
coat sleeves and pantlegs, a rhythm
of interruption capable of keeping common time.
Feet commute footpath by heart
asking what arises from a leaf’s fall—
to place illusion of separateness.
The trees freely give up giving leaves
neither wanting the leaves back nor
their soft landing
conclusion.
The leaves’ removals free the principle of removal
from being removed.
Jami Macarty writes essays, reviews, and poetry. Jami is the author of The Minuses (Center for Literary Publishing, 2020), winner of the 2020 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award – Poetry Arizona, and three chapbooks, including Mind of Spring (Vallum, 2017), winner of the 2017 Vallum Chapbook Award. “Late afternoon autumn, a trembled alternative” is a poem from Jami’s second manuscript The Long Now Conditions Permit, a finalist for the Test Site Poetry Series.
