RITA ROUVALIS CHAPMAN

Light

Winter, and I am trying
to catch the cottonwoods
touching. Their leaves
have left and only light
recedes from around their
tips and I want to know
if it is true some trees
can never touch another tree

Of course some trees
can touch and when
the wind pushes
itself through them
the sound is terror

The light between trees
is beautiful but it still fails
when the dark takes over

Rita Rouvalis Chapman’s poetry has appeared most recently in Nine Mile, Laurel Review, Panoply, and Typehouse. She teaches high school English.