Death of the Cherry Gall Wasp
Weekly Poem (Audio)
“[This] tiny gall wasp causes growths, or 'galls', on the undersides of oak leaves. The grub remains in the gall after leaf-fall, emerging as an adult wasp in winter. This asexual generation will lay its eggs on the oak tree trunk, which eventually mature to the sexual generation.”1
The news of her death
reached me via messenger
which was fine—was best—despite what they say.
A voice cracking and metallic over the phone
would have been less gentle
and would never have allowed me
the silent window of blue felt
to sort the words into letters, into their natural anagrams
as the wind might move them, as mutations happen
in the dividing that is the multiplying
of the building blocks of living things.
Then: all that’s unpacked with the sounding
out of all the letters, one by one!
This word that begins and ends with a virginal hum,
that’s as red as her blood, red as her hair, red
as bitter as
an unsatisfying last release of a fraying thread
that should have been severed cleanly seasons ago
I am as green, as transparent, as the new season. And surprised
to find how little damage winter has wrought.
Now, running along the trail, I drive my heels into the earth
leaning hard to the left, like a heartbeat, like a chant:
Left. Left. Left, right, left. Striking
like a hammer trying to nail the memories fast
and leave them behind.
Yet the blood that pumps
through my muscles
through my vessels—through
everything that is—is still a twisted copy
of everything forgotten.
(from as-yet-unpublished WIP. 2025)
Thank you for taking the time to read or listen.
I’d love to hear your thoughts—please share them in the comments on Substack. And if you’ve written about this topic in a way that is in dialogue with this post, I invite you to link to your own post in the comments.
I’ll be back later this week with a process journal essay. Until then, may your week be filled with good moments.
Warmly,
Ren
Spread the love. It only takes a little ❤️ And if you like me, you really like me:
If you’re not ready to commit to a subscription, or have reservations about substack, I’m always happy to accept A CUP OF COFFEE ☕.
Photo by DL314 Lin on Unsplash
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/galls/cherry-gall-wasp#:~:text=The%20cherry%20gall%20wasp%2C%20cynips,an%20adult%20wasp%20in%20winter.
Another good piece of work, which I have missed somehow. I must admit illness has kept me a bit quieter but usually your posts pop up at the top of my Substack app, and then there's email…but I digress.
Your post reminded me of the wasp that we learnt about in grade school that lays its egg in figs. We got to spend a day excursion to a grand old fig growing from a granite boulder outcropping at the local telegraph station built in the 1870’s, which then unfortunately became a place where “ The Stolen Generation ( First Nations children removed from their families) were housed…digressing again.
I really do like the way you juxtapose the image and the life experiences Ren.Excellent as always.