unwritten signs

a found poem

She speaks of the between-forest
Two forests which join

Yet the preposition “between”
Belongs to forests in general

It’s what they are about

A forest is what exists
Between its trees
Between its dense undergrowth
And its clearings
Between all its life cycles
And their different time-scales
Ranging from solar energy
To insects that live for a day

A forest is also a meeting place
Between those who enter it
And something
Unnamable and attendant

Waiting behind a tree
Or in the undergrowth

Something intangible
Within touching distance
Neither silent
Nor audible

It is not only visitors who feel this

Hunters and foresters
Who can read unwritten signs
Are even more keenly aware


Found in John Berger’s remarks on Jita Hanzlová’s photographs in the November | December 2006 issue of Orion