Notholaena standleyi
Star cloak fern
Elva K. Österreich
Two by two
twin and opposite, triangles
Thirteen days to go-time, folding up into being
soaking in the sun, sinking in the sun
stretching down root wires
curling, furling, in the rock midst the gray and cracks
limestone, granite - hard harsh tight tall spaces
clinging to the talus slope
fastening the desert mountains,
infixed.
Swish to suck in the jubilant water,
unfurling to the moist moonlit earth
Fertility fronds, from tea to womb
Luck in a bag
tying the world together in a web of green surprise.
~~~~~
Elva K. Österreich loves walking in wild places, revels in the scent of rain in the creosote, and lives in one of the most verdant places in the world, the Chihuahuan Desert, where green comes in a thousand colors including brown and blue.