Two Poems for Trues Ledges and Upper Valley Land Trust
by Christopher Locke
May, 2021
Trues Ledge
Lebanon, NH
Its name incites hope, a chance
to lift this year’s shadow, but your
dress shoes nearly falter, the trail
shattered in oak leaves, November
air so raw even the saplings bow
inconsolable. We stand at the rim,
a gorge perfect for young love to fling
itself over after nobody understands,
and I smile at the pageantry, thankful
I’ve forgotten such claims. I manage
my way down, careful in my footing
as I shake rainwater from young pine,
prickling my neck and my hair. I
discover a white sluice of roaring
channeled between rocks, unending,
mist rising like prayer until I spy you
above, looking down over what is left,
both truth and memory between us
and every landscape we’ve left behind.
A Return
Wind falters, pushes around
the immovable as I busy
the shoreline with quick steps,
pebbles spitting underfoot. I avoid
puddles and leap the scribbled
runoff. A cardinal speaks
up, his deep slur a confession
to nothing until his mate calls
back, ruffles a bough in her
everyday brown. They criss
cross ahead of me, darting
between sunlight punching holes
through the mist, the male’s red
coat so electric you’d believe
his song was written in blood.
Christopher Locke’s poems, stories, and essays have appeared in such magazines as The North American Review, The Rumpus, Poetry East, Verse Daily, Southwest Review, The Literary Review, The Sun, West Branch, and others. He won the 2020 Black River Chapbook Award (Black Lawrence Press) for his collection of short stories 25 Trumbulls Road. Locke is also the recipient of the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Award, state grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and Poetry Fellowships from Fundacion Valparaiso, (Spain) and PARMA (Mexico). He teaches creative writing online at The Poetry Barn and in person at both North Country Community College and Ray Brook Federal Prison in the Adirondacks.
At Upper Valley Land Trust (uvlt.org) we provide conservation leadership, tools and expertise to permanently protect the working farms, forested ridges, wildlife habitat, water resources, trails and scenic landscapes that surround residential areas and commercial centers and make the Upper Valley a truly special place to live.