Dehiscence

Summary

The web content is a poetic reflection on the concept of dehiscence, both in the context of plant biology and personal human experiences, exploring themes of growth, memory, and safety.

Abstract

The poem "Dehiscence" uses the natural process of plants releasing their seeds as a metaphor to delve into the narrator's childhood memories. It touches on the innocence of youth, the complexities of adult situations, and the contrast between the freedom of running through cornfields and the unsettling experiences that can occur even in seemingly safe environments. The narrative weaves through moments of carefree exploration, the awakening to uncomfortable realities, and the comfort found in friendship and the familiarity of one's roots. The poem also references the definition of dehiscence from a dictionary, drawing a parallel between the plant's natural process and the narrator's life events that lead to personal revelations and growth.

Opinions

The author seems to find a sense of wonder and nostalgia in the natural world, using the growth of corn as a way to measure their own growth and experiences.
There is an underlying tension between the innocence of childhood and the adult world, as evidenced by the contrast between the joy of playing in the fields and the discomfort of encountering alex's dad.
The poem suggests that personal safety and comfort can be found in friendship, as shown by the bond between the narrator and alex.
The act of running is used both literally and metaphorically, symbolizing escape, freedom, and the pursuit of personal truths.
The definition of dehiscence is presented as a moment of clarity, offering a way to understand both the biological process and the narrator's own moments of release and revelation.
The poem conveys a sense of resilience, as the narrator reflects on past events without being defined by them, instead finding solace in the continuity of life and nature.

A linguistic of (un)ravel.

I learn today, if tampered upon, some maize strains can reach forty feet, and I wonder if corn that tall could retake me to my six-year-old frame, where from my broken window, i’d nearly hear the wind dehisce a single tassel, wrest seed from shell, slump stalk obeisant while its neighbor’s silken fingers grasped pollen, each nascent kernel waiting, bated breath, the way

i hold my own, no longer interloping the rolling green, stamped right to the soil itself, mud caking my best shoes as i tramp after neighbor alex’s cat, which darted between table legs & chairs & us, through screen door to slinking shadows of sun tangled in whorling sprouts & husks, and we without a second thought chose nothing but to follow. now we’re lost, alex’s voice echoing so like her momma’s when she calls us in for dinner, so unlike the day she told me she didn’t have a daddy. our panting

paints our wake with fog that floats above tousled tips flowering long after dusk tucks me crisp in sheets & linen dreams where i sprint the fields again, this time fast enough to break into flight, and i wonder who quilted the land mechanical, patches manmade, instead of wild webs of spritely bugs & mice, and even rats of which my parents warned but who i’ve yet to see, until I look up

dehiscence in the dictionary 17 years later

— (in plants) the split-

ting at maturity along a built-in line of weakness in order to release its contents, sometimes involving the complete

detachment of a part —

it makes sense like running, when I’m not supposed to be in the neighbors’ kitchen, into alex’s stumbling dad and i’m maybe seven, reeling from humid slurred- rodent breath that backs me out a house i can leave, and i’ve no words to name him, only yes/no, the adults’ tired game, twenty questions, did he touch you — we don’t want you being there again, but before that now we’re in a field without our parents’

blessing, and alex grabs my hand to stop me in crowded cricket descant & coming sanguine moon, says, i feel safe, and I don’t know but i do know, and she drags me headlong, plummets arteries occidental of Ohio’s murmured, beaten heart where we & blooded roots entwine our claws to play.

Poetry

Dehiscence

A linguistic of (un)ravel.