By Joshua Wetjen
Is this a good research question:
What happens when you die?
Is this about
the body letting go?
Or is my student asking,
where do
the racing tremors of our minds
find rest
once our consciousness here has ceased?
Outside my classroom window
naked branches on tall trees grieve the dead leaves
soon to be replaced.
Rebirth
happens slowly,
then all at once.
Buds will sprout
once the sun
allows the Earth’s question
to run its course.
Then once more, new leaves
with their thickened innocence
will block our view of the horizon.
Joshua Wetjen is a high school English teacher living in Minneapolis and working in St. Paul. When not grading or chasing his two children, he likes to tinker on his jazz guitar and try new restaurants with his wife. His work has appeared in Opossum, Newfound and Yalobusha Review.
