Choir hive

Against white sky, the birch tree opens
its many dark
mouths. She hears its words,
golden river under snow. Secret
honey. Clapper of vein-scribed marble,
that bell rings
each full moon.
Now waning.
Now feeding the mountain underneath.

Erin Coughlin Hollowell is the author of Corvus and Crater (Salmon Poetry, 2023), Every Atom (Boreal Books, 2018), and Boundaries (Dancing Girl Press, 2018). The winner of an Alaska Literary Arts Award, a Connie Boochever Award, and a Rona Jaffe Scholarship for the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, she serves as the Executive Director of Storyknife Writers Retreat and the Director of the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference. She lives in Homer, Alaska, on the land of Niqnalchint Qayeh Kenu.