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Past and Future Tense

By on March 22, 2010 in Poetry

Under my hand the lichen
gray and sage
abrades like sandpaper.
but I hold the tree trunk
close, the way I hold
my grandchildren
and pray for their safety.

I know the humble spores
have survived ice and fire,
will outlive the saw
bitter rain and the bomb
and when all my children’s children
have long disappeared
the decent lichen
will spread itself
to cover the nakedness of stone.

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About Janet Taliaferro

I write novels, poetry, and short stories. In broad-brush terms, I have written about alcohol and drug addiction, and more importantly, recovery and the influence of twelve-step programs, incest, racial and religious tolerance, abortion, and war. In previous lives I was a political activist and business owner and have remained an avid Planned Parenthood supporter over the years. I graduated from Southern Methodist University and hold a Master’s Degree in Creative Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma, where I received the Geoffrey Bocca Memorial Award for graduate writing.
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