by Pavel Chichikov
As the autumn tree is oak
Eternity removes its cloak
Sapless arms and shriveled hands
Death before an altar stands
Nude as fire, naked, lost
Flammable and yet a ghost
Blood unflowing, growing comes
Underground and from the limbs
Naked as a flowing wind
Worshipful, it has not sinned
Supplicant without a suit
Wombless, heartless, bearing fruit
And as mortality the tree
And as immortal it is we
Pavel's Websites are at Grey Owl Press and The Poetry of Pavel Chichikov
