Trekking Through The Rain Forest, The Botanist Stumbles upon Doryopteris Angelica, “Guardian Angel of the Forest”
At a certain point in his trek he paused,
Opened his plant press kit, but couldn’t say
Why he’d done so or exactly what had caused
Him to stop there in the forest that day.
Then, three meters ahead, he saw the frond
Unfold like a green wing before his eyes—
Feathered—no, “intricately lobed,” beyond
anything he had seen before. Surprise
Cannot describe his thought at what he saw
—Guardian of the forest, in fern unfurled—
But something like astonishment and awe.
He’d take the specimen to show the world,
But now, having trespassed into the garden,
Didn’t know what to ask, permission or pardon.
Trekking Through The Rain Forest by Derek Otsuji | Poetry Reed Diffuser
Born on Oahu, Derek N. Otsuji is the author of The Kitchen of Small Hours (SIU Press, 2021), featured in Honolulu Magazine’s “Essential Hawaii Books You Should Read.” He is a 2023 Longleaf Fellow in Poetry and a 2019 Tennessee Williams Scholar. Recent work has appeared in 32 Poems, Southern Review, and The Threepenny Review.
