Serendipity? This inn happens to be situated in a veritable grove of arbutus, their twisted figures the subject of many of Tina’s fantastic photographs and the art book we’re collaborating on. My first day of writing today and I produced this rough draft despite feeling tired and fluey. Oh, and this place does have a lovely view, out back, so this afternoon I sat on the bed and gazed out the window. I came inside and worked at the dining table-my desk-after it got dark in the afternoon.

FECUND

Cast out sea tree

hugs cliff heads, bluffs rocky soil,

growing burls of water in drought

and twisted, sideways, for the sake of light.

Sinewy sun hog snaps rival plants

or serpent slinks round their trunks.

Spontaneously trimming contortionist

kill slippers beetle branches,
.
dying as little as necessary.

Core as habitat, squirrel base.

Virgin slung fruit feeds robins, waxwing

and deer red orange berries, dense white

clusters of honey flowers offered to spring’s bees.

Always in leaf she sheds her soft suit

in the summer, blushing lost

in cinnamon bark.

Take a peek teat.

What is under the skin peels?

A smooth tongue. Virescent sheen. One knot-

a button, a bump, a blossom end.