Habitus
Hollow an acorn and load in my heart.
Stand my knees and fix me with bark.
Here is the glue, the empty cap.
Here, the world of crumbling leaves
and bitten shells. Here, the cries of twig
and of husk. Here, my reach, my bristled
nerves, my back a frail stem.
Here is the past, churning with want.
Is this my hunger? Is it doubt?
Where is the hinge enclosing my soul?
Take the green lichen blown down
with the fir, and fasten me wild
to a hunk of coarse hair. Ring me with moss
and wash me with duff. Lift me rickety,
let me be strong, lift me dying, let me dance.
Let me be bitter, let me long, lift me
shapeless, lift me sharpened. Take me in
your hand. Place me.
Judith Chalmer’s second book of poems is Minnow (Kelsay Books 2020). Her poems have been published in journals such as Watershed Review, Image and Jet Fuel Review. Read more.