Seedtime
Power lines disrobe and drop their months
-long icy parkas. Frisky crested irises
burst through the soil, ogling the glint
of each new-living pigment. Berries keep tart
around the fetus of sweetness. Atoms split across
the tongue and scrum: bright creosote
of our desire, stale snow melt, branches
flexing their pears. Machinists cog
the syrup into coin. The first taste invests
the mouth with lust dressed up as need.
The pollen built the bank. Sod gave the queen.
Charlie Green is the author of the 2021 poetry collection Feral Ornamentals. His writing has appeared in Image, The Southeast Review, and The Missouri Review, among other venues. He teaches writing at Cornell University and hosts the Talking Poem Podcast.
Grand Little Things 