Summary

The final sequence of poems serves as a retrospective look at family. She begins with a verse on her lineage as revealed through her grandparents. Her grandfather taught her the ways of the woods and reiterated how nature speaks, if people would only listen. The second poem in the collection, “Ganoderma Applanatum” emphasizes the process of growth. It refers to a knot that a tree may create in response to a fungus. The next poem “sweet gum tree, felled” captures Boy Scouts in the forest, led by a strong man. Yet it is a woman who fells a tree the men cannot seem to saw through. It is possible that this is an image of Anderson’s grandmother, with her knowledge of trees, or perhaps it is a symbolic image of feminine strength. Anderson then segues into her mother’s childhood, growing up...