Trans-Plant

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TRANS-PLANT


Moving here, we had our 

doubts we knew what we were 

doing: how to garden, how to raise chickens

or a family, the difference

between a beech tree and an oak,

what it would be like 

to live both further out

and closer to the ground.

Still, we decided to send our shoots

deep into the clay, not

knowing much about roots 

but just enough about words

to trust the principles

translate: The shallow ones 

pop when pulled. Toss them

in the compost heap. Worm

food. Even if buried in 

the wrong place, requiring  

some sweat and some skin 

off your fingers, the deep ones

come up whole. This means

they aren’t dead yet. This means

they can be kept, 

brought home, replanted.


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