Lynn Otto
Apple Tree on Whalen Island
So low, this riddled trunk. How far
can one lean against nothing?
Its limbs are scarred in rows
of small holes. Some systematic bird.
But one low branch reaches into the earth,
reappears with a fistful of leaves.
A Piece of Knitting Pantoum
Cast off: to remove [stitches] from a knitting needle in such a way as to prevent
unraveling. (Merriam-Webster)
Each piece, when finished, is cast off
Each stitch passes over another
Bit by bit, picked up, slipped off
A daughter is taught by her mother
Each stitch passing over some other
Makes a chain on the edge of something warm
The daughter then teaches another
The last takes the end and holds it firm
This chain on the edge of something warm
Holds onto the work of repeated rows
The last takes the end and holds it firm
How long it will hold, nobody knows
Hold fast the work of repeated rows
Bit by bit, picked up, slipped off
How long it can hold, nobody knows
Each piece is finished and then cast off.
Lynn Otto is a freelance copy editor and webinar instructor. Her publications include poems in Hartskill Review, Raleigh Review, Centrifugal Eye, Strong Verse, Triggerfish Critical Review, and Winged: New Writing on Bees. She holds an MFA from Portland State University and calls Oregon home.
Apple Tree on Whalen Island
So low, this riddled trunk. How far
can one lean against nothing?
Its limbs are scarred in rows
of small holes. Some systematic bird.
But one low branch reaches into the earth,
reappears with a fistful of leaves.
A Piece of Knitting Pantoum
Cast off: to remove [stitches] from a knitting needle in such a way as to prevent
unraveling. (Merriam-Webster)
Each piece, when finished, is cast off
Each stitch passes over another
Bit by bit, picked up, slipped off
A daughter is taught by her mother
Each stitch passing over some other
Makes a chain on the edge of something warm
The daughter then teaches another
The last takes the end and holds it firm
This chain on the edge of something warm
Holds onto the work of repeated rows
The last takes the end and holds it firm
How long it will hold, nobody knows
Hold fast the work of repeated rows
Bit by bit, picked up, slipped off
How long it can hold, nobody knows
Each piece is finished and then cast off.
Lynn Otto is a freelance copy editor and webinar instructor. Her publications include poems in Hartskill Review, Raleigh Review, Centrifugal Eye, Strong Verse, Triggerfish Critical Review, and Winged: New Writing on Bees. She holds an MFA from Portland State University and calls Oregon home.