Welcome to a new literary contributor to the blog, writer Mark Reimer, who is on the staff at UMass Lowell. —PM

.

Interior

Humbaba’s sixth aura

was given to the forests;

I read this on the train

and note contrails in the sky

marking off

our path to the city,

with just enough time to scan

a prospectus

on the Lex Ave property.

A weight

presses down

like buildings on Manahata bedrock:

could you dig a hole

deep enough

to find the ghosts of trees?

Some trees are here,

in odd places –

London Plane and Callery Pear

on Stanton and Eldridge.

Small community gardens.

Of course,

Central Park: an island

set in the onrushing

sea of progress.

Humus – trace

of forgotten woods –

far below lifts our feet

as we buy and sell

and breathe air

old as legends.

—Mark Reimer (c) 2014