yarrow ferns vetch
clamber over stone foundations
of the vanished cabins
of the extraordinarily stubborn
who tried to farm steep slopes
who built beside quick brooks
but one day had enough
said goodbye to cobblestone fields
to the gnat cloud
& clenched water lily
the still pond back in the trees
goodbye ragweed goldenrod aster
floral calendar expiring in a jar
pollen dusting the table
the door slams
a sapling grows through the roof
the walls fall in
the hillside sighs
Click here to read Martha McCollough on the origin of the poem.
Image: “Mt. Greylock” by buoutingclub, licensed under CC 2.0.
Martha McCollough lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. She has an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute. Her poems have appeared in Bear Review, Radar, Zone 3, Tampa Review, and Salamander, among others. Her chapbook, Grandmother Mountain, was published by Blue Lyra Press in October 2019, and her full length collection of poems, Wolf Hat Iron Shoes, will be out in Spring 2022 from Lily Poetry Review Books.
Latest posts by Martha McCollough (see all)
- Greylock Glen - November 19, 2021
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