roots dancing

by susan mccaslin


You could say roots
             squidged as they are
between dark heaps of soil
             shivering and soaked
don’t dance
                          but you’d be wrong

for in that dry, wet
                          wondering dark
they curiously minuet
                          drawing near                and apart
wiggle-stepping             spreading
                                       corkscrewing    around stones

weaving lateral-vertical designs
             criss-crossing
                                                    turning	
delving, snaking
                                                                                                          spiraling wide
clasping and unclasping 
hands
                                                    in the dark ground


Roots are chords
                                                     (cords)             fluent thrummings
drawing water
                                                    from dance’s core

while trees                                 their lanky siblings
                                                                                             thrust themselves skyward

Yes, you’d be wrong
                                                    about roots 
                                                                               not dancing
simply sitting shivering                                                                 and soaked
                                                    between dark clods of soil
hunching together

                                                    immobile