Fourth Poem on Psalm 1 by Christopher Raley

IV There, a shaft of light falls on a gnarled branch cut down some time ago and left alone. And, there, the river's shallows gurgle round a limb like a claw lifeless on the bed.

A tree stands pained from the loss of its hand like a man on a corner in a world of concrete and steel, bewildered by cars that pass and people who speak without talking

because the things he called his life are gone and unreachable. Though he grit his teeth and strain to get them back, still they are gone.

And in the garden the snake rattle curses for the Gardener comes to shape those He loves. But the snake will not find one leaf fallen.