Magnolia on a Grassy Hill
A poem by Alexander Etheridge

Magnolia on a Grassy Hill
—after Mary Oliver

It stands powerfully in the late-autumn cool
in drifting shawls of blue mist—

It only shares its name with the earth
and speaks its one word

heard in ancient Eden.

I pass under it at sundown, looking up
at its huge wingspan—I saw it once in my
childhood dreams. I sense it calmly

watching me as I walk on into night,
a little braver having been with it.

About the Author:

Alexander Etheridge’s poems have been featured in The Potomac Review, Museum of Americana, Welter Journal, The Cafe Review, Abridged Magazine, Susurrus Magazine, The Journal, and many others.  He was the winner of the Struck Match Poetry Prize in 1999.  He is the author of, God Said Fire, and, Snowfire and Home. 

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