EGO UMBRA and 3 other poems
Natures spectral shadow rises, a fierce ecofeminist reclamation of memory and agency,…
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From ULR
Issue 7 – Environment
GENERAL SHERMAN
General Sherman, ancient sentinel, faces fire, its name echoing humanity's indelible, destructive past.
June 15, 2022
Season of spreading flames
Make the hot months hotter,
Make short work
Out of sequoia groves
Fireball orange
Days and nights blur
No slowing down seasonal inferno
Fright runs through spotted owl and other animals
California woods’ future—drained of colour
Blackened soil,
Charcoal columns,
Smoking cinders—
Two paths in Sequoia National Park
Lead to the first forest guardian
Standing at 84 metres high, 2200 years old
In need of protection—
Firefighters apply aluminium sheet
Covering roots and trunk at the very base
So flames of Summer
Won’t leave scars on the tallest, oldest soldier
General Sherman
Who has seen
Ages come and go,
Beings become born and die,
General Sherman
Whose name evokes
Visions of past field battles between
North & South, over economics, over slavery—
General Sherman
Whose name, unfortunately,
Reminds us of spreading
Flames of war.
W: 1.12.22
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PART OF A COLLECTIONEGO UMBRA and 3 other poems
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Dee Allen
Dee Allen African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California U.S.A. Active on creative writing & Spoken Word since the early 1990s. Author of 7 books—Boneyard, Unwritten Law, Stormwater, Skeletal Black [ all from POOR Press ], Elohi Unitsi [ Conviction 2 Change Publishing ] and his newest, Rusty Gallows: Passages Against Hate [ Vagabond Books ] and Plans [ Nomadic Press ]—and 46 anthology appearances under his figurative belt so far.