Rotten Wood

You cannot carve rotten wood. -- K'ung-tzu

for it will not obey
the cold logic of the knife. Rotten wood
will crumble away from the lines you sketch,
break when you handle it, slump on its plinth
and refuse to hold any shape. Not the stuff
of eternal sculpture.

It will give itself up to colonies of grubs
that fatten bears for hard winters. It will
nurture the tender heads of ferns
and the roots of seedlings--
other trees' seedlings: fallen logs
are not like birds who will reject
a cuckoo's egg. Rotten wood will
house the galleries of ants and beetles
and roof the homes of earthworms.

It will blossom with
the fractal gills of mushrooms
and the delicate lips of orchids.
It will keep time
to a different clock than stone.
It will
live.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside