Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/weekly-poem-crossings Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Weekly Poem: ‘Crossings’ Arts Dec 12, 2011 11:04 AM EDT By Ravi Shankar Between forest and field, a threshold like stepping from a cathedral into the street– the quality of air alters, an eclipse lifts, boundlessness opens, earth itself retextured into weeds where woods once were. Even planes of motion shift from vertical navigation to horizontal quiescence: there’s a standing invitation to lie back as sky’s unpredictable theater proceeds. Suspended in this ephemeral moment after leaving a forest, before entering a field, the nature of reality is revealed. Ravi Shankar is founding editor of the online journal of the arts Drunken Boat. He teaches at Central Connecticut State College where he is poet-in-residence and in the MFA program at City University of Hong Kong. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now
By Ravi Shankar Between forest and field, a threshold like stepping from a cathedral into the street– the quality of air alters, an eclipse lifts, boundlessness opens, earth itself retextured into weeds where woods once were. Even planes of motion shift from vertical navigation to horizontal quiescence: there’s a standing invitation to lie back as sky’s unpredictable theater proceeds. Suspended in this ephemeral moment after leaving a forest, before entering a field, the nature of reality is revealed. Ravi Shankar is founding editor of the online journal of the arts Drunken Boat. He teaches at Central Connecticut State College where he is poet-in-residence and in the MFA program at City University of Hong Kong. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now