Roots
Thomas Kneeland
I am from the fig tree & the grapevine—
the place where my bisabuela sighed
in the reflection of water
glazed on fig leaves after summer rain.
I am from petrichor, settled on the soil
of my abuela’s backyard where plum trees
bear plentiful, god nectar from webs of dew
around its branches.
I am from pecans, plummeting from autumn trees,
hardened for the harvest, baked into warm pies
to tease nearby blue jays, wings ruffled in uproar
at candied pecans & hot crust behind tempered glass.
Thomas Kneeland
Thomas Kneeland is the author of We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep (Marian University Department of Media, Communication, and Design) and a 2022 Frontier Poetry Global Poetry Prize finalist for the continent of Africa. He is a 2024 Speculative Play & Just Futurities Scholar-in-Residence, which is funded by Indiana University, the Mellon Foundation, IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute, IUPUI Center for Africana Studies & Culture, and the Ray Bradbury Center. He is also the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of The Elevation Review. His current and forthcoming publication credits include Southern Humanities Review, The Rumpus, Vagabond City Lit, Up the Staircase Quarterly, South Florida Poetry Journal, and elsewhere. Thomas received his BA in English Writing from DePauw University, an MA in Ministry with a Worship Arts Specialization from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, and an MFA in Poetry from Butler University.