Bernheim Forest
The forest doesn't bury its dead
But stands among them—
Last year's leaves curled at its feet
The fallen logs of its kind.
If the trees murmur or sigh
Crack or groan
It is only the wind.
The trees themselves are silent.
In all their grace
And terrible nakedness they symbolize
Nothing. They are beyond us.
How can we bear it?
Prairie Schooner, Vol. 79, No. 2 (Summer 2005), p. 180
Alice Friman’s fifth full-length collection is Vinculum (LSU), for which she won the 2012 Georgia Author of the Year Award in Poetry. She is a recipient of a 2012 Pushcart Prize and is included in Best American Poetry 2009. A new collection, The View from Saturn (LSU), is forthcoming. Her podcast series, Ask Alice, is sponsored by the Georgia College MFA program and can be seen on YouTube.