
So honored to be in the "She Persisted" issue of Earth's Daughters. Here's the poem that appeared. I started this poem nearly 30 years ago and finished it just in time to meet Earth's Daughters deadline.
Immortality
Even in the absence
of my footsteps,
this oak floor
sighs and creaks --
as if she still elbows
her sisters in the forest
and heaves boulders aside
with her muscled roots;
as if white-throated fungus
and snarls of moss
still mount
her pleated bark;
as if her limbs
still sprout ruffled fronds
to snag the perfect
suitor’s pollen;
as if she still prays
at least one of her young
escapes the squirrel’s
lethal pantry.