A Wrapping and Unwrapping, by Devon Balwit

A Wrapping and Unwrapping
           (for Christo: 1935-2020)
 
Greats and former greats beneath shrouds,
             Roman walls, the Reichstag, the Pont Neuf,
                            returned to us in membrane, cauled, history 
 
a wrapping and unwrapping of what we think 
             we know, geologic features we assumed 
                            tamed, mapped and bridged, measured and sounded, 
 
transformed as if by witchery, monuments 
              enchanted for weeks while we wandered 
                            them dazed, stepping hesitantly out 
 
on the artist’s pier, trying to steady ourselves
               as we followed his vision, his fabric gates
                            whispering, our faces tipped upwards
 
like the leaves of his swaddled trees, peering 
               at the suddenly unfamiliar light, wondering 
                            where and what we’ve come to.

Devon Balwit

Devon Balwit sets her hand to the plough in the Pacific Northwest. Her poems and reviews can be found here in The Ekphrastic Review as well as in The Worcester Review, The Cincinnati Review, Tampa Review, Rattle, Apt (long form issue), Tar River Poetry, Sugar House Review, Poetry South, saltfront, and Grist among others. Please visit her website at: https://pelapdx.wixsite.com/devonbalwitpoet