“Pruning the Blood Plum Tree” by Warren Hatch
by Patricia | 4.19.10More than any winter I had known, that winter.
In evening I pruned against winter’s loss.
The sky echoed from the first spring’s rain.
At my touch, the tree quivered, beading.
The tree arched like two hands cupped,
reaching up, fingers outstretched.
Sarah stood in the light of the door,
leaning against a white pillar,
calling me home from the dark;
as each branch snapped,
water fanned out,
each sphere gathering her warmth,
or a last narrow band of red in the West.
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Warren Hatch is an assistant professor of English and Literature at Utah Valley University where he teaches writing in science and technology as well as writing about nature. His poems were selected by National Poet Laureate Billy Collins to win the 2006 Utah Writers Poetry Competition of the Western Humanities Review. Collins has said of him, “This poet has an unerring ear and a beautiful sense of how a line should be timed. I like the way precise verbal description can suddenly switch to a more colloquial line. This poet has the gift, the light touch, and yet serious ballast on board.” He has also won the Monk Poetry Award, Utah Arts Council poetry contests, BYU’s Eisteddfod Crown and Chair competitions, and BYU’s Mayhew-Hinkley contest (poetry) and Ann Doty contest (short fiction). His first collection, Mapping the Bones of the World, was published in 2008. His poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Western Humanities Review, and other journals.
*Non-contest submission*