Ana Cottle

Ana Cottle is a poet and translator based in Southern California. Ana studied Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley with a focus on feminist Yiddish poetry. She is the Communications Director at an arts education nonprofit and the Poetry Editor for Carve Magazine. https://twitter.com/anacottle

Night is coming

Sum up
the annual rings of a trunk
with the exactitude of
a technician.
The incursion
of greenish buds,
clustered,
dutifully portends
a shift in temper.
The pollen is too sticky
to be carried by the wind
& newcomers
hang in the air
reticent of the
concave blades.
A vertical stem,
no branches,
quickened by
a warm bath
of light.
For all the scale
and beauty,
I am
only
documenting our
catastrophic progress.