Morus alba Mûrier
G.E. Patterson
The work is the work & the trees more than trees
The birds sang as some moved among the leaves
Has it been so long? To some it must seem
The work of our hands began with the green
Birds sang while people moved among the leaves
In the past as now a memory gleams
The work of this world it started in green
There were trees in a field, trees and more trees
Not just in the past though history streams
Through us to here where all time can convene
There are trees in a field, trees and more trees
The patterned steadiness of that is what redeems
For us here now past and future convene
When we close our eyes we might dream and see
The steady work we’re doing is what redeems
Hands can fashion cloth in a world that teems
Eyes open or closed there are dreams we see
In the bright brink of silk and the things we weave
Hand-fashioned cloth in this world that teems
From uncertainty to uncertainty it seems
From that bright brink let the things we weave
Be carried forward—forward, or so it seems—
Through patterned cloth and skill the world can teem
The work of remembering begins with the trees
Artist’s Biography:
G.E. Patterson is a poet, critic, and artist who has collaborated internationally across multiple fields including music, dance and public art. A featured poet-performer in New York’s Panasonic Village Jazz Fest, he is the author of two poetry collections, To and From (Ahsahta Press) and Tug (Graywolf Press), which won the Minnesota Book Award. He has written about the community of care at the George Floyd Memorial, for PlacesJournal.org; his public art commissions include: Create: The Community Meal, the Plume Project, and the Dale Street Bridge Replacement. Patterson has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Djerassi Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, & New York City’s Fund for Poetry, among other awards and honors. He currently serves as Senior Director of Craft at The Loft in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and as an Adjunct Faculty at Metro State University in St. Paul, Minnesota–the city in which he resides.
