The Nettle Shirt
There is an explanation for evil
and for why the underside of clouds turns
dark with rain and why the storm of pain spills
down, but it lies hidden under tall ferns
by the river’s edge, overgrown with sedge
and tendrilled blackthorn roots this time of year.
You’re better off walking along the ledge
until the path you’re on becomes sincere
and forest dwindles down to farmer’s hedge
and seven geese call out that home is near.
The sting of flowering nettles briefly burns
before its fiber yields to flinty knives
and twirls upon the spindle as it yearns
to weave the word that answers for our lives.
Cindy Ellen Hill has authored four poetry collections-- Wild Earth (Antrim Press 2021), Elegy for the Trees (Kelsay Books 2022), Mosaic: Poems from Travels in Italy (Wild Dog Press 2024), and Love in a Time of Climate Change (Finishing Line Press 2025). Read more.