from rot comes rupture
BY TOVA GREENE.
After seven years of study & supervision, Grief
has taught me to consider the composition
of day-to-day deaths.
Neoclassical chiaroscuro
in the cardamom-red
of a rat’s intestines, stark
against freshly-paved concrete.
A Romantic pastoral in yellow leaves leaning
towards autumn, suns in a sea of green.
Every evening at exactly 7:00 pm
Grief & I cook dinner together.
As onions simmer she recites the same aphorism:
from rot comes rupture & rupture comes rapture.
Again & again.
A prayer for perennials returning.
An ode to a daylily’s deep roots.
& indeed as we dine tonight
she reminds me that this
still life before me--
potatoes, golden brown,
piled on my plate--
did once grow from decay.
Tova Greene (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based producer and poet-person. As the Chief Programs Officer of The Poetry Society of New York, they create immersive poetry wonderlands—such as The New York City Poetry Festival & Poetry Camp—that prioritize collaboration and artistic experimentation. Their events have garnered acclaim from outlets including The New York Times and Observer. Their debut collection, lilac on the damned's breath (Bottlecap Press, 2022), grapples with the cyclical nature of grief. You can find them at tova-greene.com, and on Instagram @tovagreene.