New Poetry by J.R. Solonche

Adam's Dream 

First there was this strange sensation.

It felt like a finger running along my ribs.

It was quick, firm, with neither pleasure nor pain.

Then I was lying on my back.

A great tree took root between my legs.

In a moment it grew to its full height,

swaying in the wind.

Then it exploded into a glorious crown of fruit.

An angel of the Lord came with a flaming sword.

The angel of the Lord burned the tree to ashes.

I scooped the ashes up into the cup of my hands.

I rubbed the ashes into the skin of my chest and shoulders.

I rubbed the ashes into the skin of my arms and legs.

I found myself in a new place.

There was not a tree nor a bush nor any green thing.

The earth was red and hard beneath my feet.

But I was not alone in that new place.

Behind me I heard laughter and weeping.

I heard laughter and weeping behind me.

- © J.R. Solonche 2023

Nominated for the National Book Award and nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, J.R. Solonche is the author of 30 books of poetry and coauthor of another. He lives in the Hudson Valley.