Shall we grow old together? I mean, grow into
trees? I mean, faces creasing? I mean, bark
forming around our intentions? Bark broken by
carved initials inside a heart. Every ring inside
holds the chemical profiles of years spent and
medications tried. The rings are smaller where
nothing worked, bigger where our love overcame.
Our roots will intertwine more and more every year.
Exponentially and invisibly more, every year.
Growing eyes in every direction. The scars --
or gifts? -- of every sawed off branch. Until
our eyes finally shut to each other after a
long life of sucking at dirt, together, a long
life of sipping up raindrops, together.
-- Rachel Hutchinson
Rachel Hutchinson is a recent graduate from University of Pittsburgh, where she won awards for fiction-writing, poetry and personal essay. She lives in Oakland and is soon to begin studying at Bella Capelli Academy in Monroeville. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on WYEP 91.3 FM.
