“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER

A Stranded Jellyfish

by Lynne Wycherley

Issue: Spring/Summer 2021

At the river’s mouth
two worlds clash,

saline and fresh, my
footsteps’ dust: your sheen.

You are muslin and lace,
petticoat grace, pale queen.

You whisper our planet is drying.
You gasp for water as I for air.

If I wear my soul like a veil
will I look like you?

Listen to the author

About Lynne Wycherley

Lynne Wycherley is a poet living on a small farm in England, immersed in the cadences of the natural world. At heart, she is a quiet writer, faithful to soil and starlight. Her Listening to Light: New & Selected Poems was published by Shoestring Press, edited John Lucas, emeritus professor of English literature, in 2014; her 2018 collection Testimony of the Trees, also from Shoestring, is a prayer for living beauty in an increasingly virtual age. Her early awards include the English Association Fellows’ Poetry Prize 2009 while a new poem about rock music was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Folklore Prize (UK).

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.

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