Coast Redwood
When we come across her in the bluebells,
stretched out flat, she says Sequoia Sempervirens
is the tallest living species of tree on Earth,
altogether more ancient and venerable than, say,
the Douglas Fir or the Small-leaved Lime.
In the field, in the monastery of its own greening,
the line of this snapped tree is an empire
becoming its dark ages, shifting from iambic
to chaotic Northern gutturals, reverting
from supply chains and Agmen formate
to oiled hair and heroism. Sometimes she wakes
from pipedreams and can’t breathe because of
how dirty the ward is, unaware of the year
or month, or the meaning of the word medicine.
Philip Foster lives in Hebden Bridge. He was a founder member of the Albert Poets, in Huddersfield, and has won Ilkley and Arvon prizes. Most recently he has been a regular contributor to Pennine Platform.