Three Poems by Neil Ellman

Woods (2)

 

     after the painting by Gerhard Richter 

 

In the woods a lexicon’s

concentric rings

speak ancient dialects

 

of seasons come and gone

broken promises

civilizations’ rise and fall

 

liaisons in the shade

of twisted limbs

names carved in weathered bark

 

of the forgiven and unforgiving

confessions and lies

the birth and death of gods

 

straining to the light

trees endure, survive

to teach the earth its past.

Woods (5)

 

     after the painting by Gerhard Richter

 

Blue and yellow trees

with purple bark

Inhabit a world of black and grey

grow old

grow leaves that shift to red

as they escape this time

this place

along the speed of fall and light

with a reason to survive

the end of time

as blue and yellow trees

that will not die

when the woods grow dark

in the winter of the sun

Woods (10)

 

     after the painting by Gerhard Richter 

 

Who live among the trees

on hallowed ground

in the hollows of the earth

hold communion with            

the gods of wind and rain

who gather in the sediment

of falling leaves

to feed eternity

as if it were their child

who comes to know

that destiny is a tree

that sometimes dies

to live again and again

to command the forest floor.

 

 

 

 

Neil Ellman, a poet from New Jersey, has published more than 1,000 poems, many of which are ekphrastic and written in response to works of modern and contemporary art, in print and online journals, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world.