It sounds dignified, Ulmus parvifolia,
much more so than Chinese elm,
Wikipedia will tell you its other aka,
lacebark elm, which is somewhere
(in between)
the scientific, specific and the utilitarian,
common prosaic monikers.
It’s all the same (or is it?) tree,
the one with exfoliating bark,
like a river birch or sycamore.
“The apetalous, wind-pollinated, perfect flowers are produced in early autumn, small and inconspicuous” (Wikipedia.org).
Perfect. Apetalous. Am I to understand that the perfect flower has no petals and draws no attention?
This changes things.
Also, the lacebark elm has that specific scientific specificity perfunctorily:
the bark exfoliates.
Those beautiful gradations
of ochre, moss, copper, amber, and khaki are the result of the bark peeling away from the tree.
Chinese elms shed their outer layers, not like snakes or cicadas,
No, not in one continuous slink out of skin—more like a child with a sunburn,
peeling away this part here, that part there,
exposing the fresh, raw skin beneath,
glowing like a ruby that knows better.
🌳🌳🌳
Reference (sorry, no APA or MLA formatting):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmus_parvifolia
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
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'20/20'
"Do It Again" the track that would ultimately open the Beach Boys final album on Capitol Records which was released on February 10th 1969 had originally been released as a single in August of 1968. The track was the first of many post-Pet Sounds era throwbacks to the early Beach Boys sound which would become continually more cliched and eventually lead the Beach Boys to the level of self-parody they would eventually succumb to in the 1980s while their closest contemporaries The Beatles nearing the end of their run in 1969 would go on to be viewed as the most influential band of all time. However, the song itself is not bad on its surface, and it opens with a futuristic sounding (for 1969) drumbeat captured by then-Beach Boys engineer Stephen Desper using tape delays on the drums performed by Dennis Wilson and John Guerin. The song has been re-recorded numerous times over the years on various Beach Boys-related projects most notably the 2011 re-recording at Capitol studios featuring the five surviving Beach Boys at the time backed instrumentally by various members of both the Brian Wilson Band and Mike Loves touring "Beach Boys" to promote the then upcoming Beach Boys 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012. The hammering and power drill sound at the end of the song was an excerpt from a track called "Workshop" that was to be a part of the uncompleted "SMiLE" album.
By Sean Callaghan6 days ago in Beat
Comments (2)
This is beautifully observed and quietly lyrical. I love how you move from scientific precision into intimacy, letting the bark, the names, and even the Wikipedia phrasing become part of a meditation on attention, beauty, and becoming.
This is such a thoughtful and evocative piece. I love how you’ve taken the prosaic language of a Wikipedia entry and found the hidden poetry within it.