Bark, Archive, Splinter [“Is it possible to come to the figuration of trees as late as this”]
By Jay Gao
Bark, archive, splinter
Is it possible to come to the figuration of trees as late as this
Etiolated scholia
You were late, delivering this cankerous hazelnut to him
A branch snap can conjugate as much danger as a virus
Translating the distance of palms between rupture and rapture
You show him a study about how tree growth correlates to cosmic radiation once native to distant stars
So tell me this
From your walk, you discovered a cloistered chink, a gold leaf, a bolus, a grackle, some veronica, a little article, a making
–––––––––––––––––––––archived
What does second nature mean to you
Making up for lost space
Source: Poetry (July/August 2026)


