Into the Hemlock Forest / Keith Taylor - Peninsula Arts Magazine

INTO THE HEMLOCK FOREST

KEITH TAYLOR

We walk down the trail at the edge
of Carp Creek, almost to its mouth,
then wade across.

The bottom is sandy, comfortable,
nothing to worry about, and the water
cold against our calves.

When we rise up from the creek, we are
among the hemlocks under a thick canopy
that keeps the forest floor almost bare.

The place is dark, quiet, cool—
church or crypt or cave.
We are quiet here
and think we might stay a while.

This piece reflects an area on the property of the University of Michigan Biological Station outside Pellston, MI.

Keith Taylor’s next book — All the Time You Want: Selected Poems, 1977 – 2017 — will be published in January, 2024 by Dzanc Books. He lives in Ann Arbor.

INTO THE HEMLOCK FOREST

KEITH TAYLOR

This piece reflects an area on the property of the University of Michigan Biological Station outside Pellston, MI.Keith Taylor’s next book — All the Time You Want: Selected Poems, 1977 – 2017 — will be published in January, 2024 by Dzanc Books. He lives in Ann Arbor.

Find this piece on page 45 of our inaugural print issue.

This piece reflects an area on the property of the University of Michigan Biological Station outside Pellston, MI.

Keith Taylor’s next book — All the Time You Want: Selected Poems, 1977 – 2017 — will be published in January, 2024 by Dzanc Books. He lives in Ann Arbor.