What Moss Says by Penelope Scambly Schott

What Moss Says

by Penelope Scambly Schott

(published in River and South, May 2018)

There's enough moss to go around

is what I say to myself.

When I lived on the East Coast

moss only said North,

but here in rainy western Oregon

moss proclaims I embrace.

The circumference of each branch

is wrapped in Old Man's Beard.

When I must abandon my used body

in this damp forest

moss will whisper Welcome, sister

as it dresses my ivory bones.

Fairy Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

photo from iClipArt

A favorite poet and a favorite journal!

Penelope has the distinct talent of being both surreal/whimiscal and grounded/thethered at the same time in her poems. The first line: there's enough moss to go around . . . okay--why even think that?!? This strange thought pulls the reader in because we now want to know why the speaker says this.

Then the poem gives us what the title promises, the moss talking. I love the comparison of the amount of moss on the East Coast and the West Coast. (As a New Yorker transplanted in Oregon, like the poet, this was very relatable to me.) The moss does seem plentiful enough here to embrace everything.

And the use of the word "embrace," rather than all of the other words Penelope could have used to describe the moss here in Oregon (overwhelm, smother, control, blanket, etc.), sets up the last couplet. The speaker imagines her future death and knows the moss of "this damp forest" will welcome her.

Such a lovely way to think about death and--if you have read a lot of Penelope's work--you know the themes in this poem are very much her. If you have not read a lot of her work, you should!

*Couplets are nothing more than a stanza made up of two lines. Like couple. I will discuss other poetry terms with other poems.