Vine - Steve Trenam

[Lawrence Robinson]

Vine

In Kim Stafford’s alliterative poem
Vine, the subject doesn’t so much
creep as it does slink,
curl as it does scrawl,
cling as it does stretch,
coil as it does surge,
or climb as it does soar.

The vine strains toward the light
like a Starling about to molt.
This plant wants to probe
the universe. 
It wants to fly.

It will not whimper
for its lack of wings.
It will not be wrenched
from its host by the wind.
It will never withdraw.

Jostled by the elements,
it bristles up the tree
until it envelopes it entirely.
It will remove any doubt
of its ability to grow—
the vine will spawn like 
a fish against all rapids,
reaching for the sky
and the nectar of clouds.

	- Steve Trenam