This poem is taken from PN Review 239, Volume 44 Number 3, January - February 2018.
Two Poems
The Smoke-tree
Something zigzag in its branchwork
and the crown – flat, broad –
suggest China,
an overhang
above steep water
The leaves are tender, shaped
like small oval fans –
the sap, when
it oozes, has
an odd medicinal smell
In summer the panicles, sketchy,
faintly purple, papery
as a wasps’ nest,
fall and
bowl into corners
Autumn is the most exotic –
it flames through scarlet, crimson
...
Something zigzag in its branchwork
and the crown – flat, broad –
suggest China,
an overhang
above steep water
The leaves are tender, shaped
like small oval fans –
the sap, when
it oozes, has
an odd medicinal smell
In summer the panicles, sketchy,
faintly purple, papery
as a wasps’ nest,
fall and
bowl into corners
Autumn is the most exotic –
it flames through scarlet, crimson
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue'.
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 284 issues containing over 11,400 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 284 issues containing over 11,400 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
