before dawn’s
shell-shiny
start I notice
winter damage
on the neighbor’s pine
the top blown
into its own branches
and from within this high
dark tangle hear
a voice
he sings
a simple chord
two tones
or one
so rich and pure
it makes a layer
like the sound of light
enveloping
the moon
or fingers
on a soft
cheek
this small
brown bird
offering the blossom
of almost spring
his split syrinx
captures all directions
as the egg-sun
oranges the broken tree
a dazzling parapet
commanding
his charmed
realm
“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER
Thrush Morning
by Ellen White Rook
Issue: 2023 Issue on Renewal
About Ellen White Rook
Ellen White Rook (she/her) is a poet and contemplative arts teacher living in upstate New York and southern Maine. Retired from a career in information technology, she now offers writing workshops and leads retreats that merge meditation, movement, and writing. Ellen is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Lindenwood University. Her work has been published in New Verse News, Black Fork, New Note Poetry, The Banyan Review, Quibble, Trolley, and more. A collection of poems, Suspended, is forthcoming from Cathexis Press Northwest in 2023. Visit her website ellenwhiterook.com.
Cold Mountain Review is published once a year in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. Support from Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences enables CMR’s learning and publications program. The views and opinions expressed in CMR do not necessarily reflect those of university trustees, administration, faculty, students, or staff.