Right Now I'm Standing

Right now I’m standing

beneath what used to be
I imagine     an impressive tree
        Split down its bole it
has sprouted green leaves     that will be rustling
        way into September
    At its base lying athwart the clearing
        is the severed part

The colour of brown has weathered to near-grey
    and the footfall of walkers has covered
the wood with a layer of dust & yet
    the part that has fallen among the spikenard
and hungry shrubs surges out of death

The raspberries feed on its breath
    and beetles thrive in the slurry middle
where the bole rots

Listen     there is nothing as exhilarating
as the feeling of life coming into you

Though people
    look suspiciously
stand and listen     do not go anywhere

we have been the workers
        just the workers

In the Congo     one man had a land
almost eighty times
the size of Belgium     as his estate

We have been property

When I talk about reclaiming time
I’m just thinking about my body
standing in the middle of this woodland
            and
doing nothing     nothing