Cameron Morse
The Face in the Tree

The elder eyes are buried in the gnarls
of memory. Knots impossible to pick apart
with the teeth. Like the decision to have
no further children. Put down a pet dog.
Who can unearth themselves from grief,
lift their gaze when necessary to yay,
and again, another day? There are trees
on the brightening ridge. Who can
untangle the understory we wade through
our whole lives trying to reach
the tracks and find a clear crossing? The eyes,
we’re told, are windows. If so, what do we
see in them but our own reflection? Doppelgänger,
ghost brother, long unheard from friend.

Cameron Morse’s poems have been published in numerous magazines, including New Letters, South Dakota Review, Typo, and Bridge Eight. His first collection, Fall Risk, won Glass Lyre Press’s 2018 Best Book Award. His second, Father Me Again, is available from Spartan Press.