“Rooted” – A mono-rhyme poem

Here’s a new poem I’ve written, called “Rooted”. I saw these tangled, blood-red tree roots while we were out on a walk, and it occurred to me that the two of us are like those roots. The poem is in mono-rhyme form, meaning that every line of the poem ends with the same sound. In this case, all the lines end with words that rhyme with the last word in the first line, “there”. Using a mono-rhyme scheme creates lines that are similar to roots: they run into each other without breaks, all the same, all smooth and flowing. So, each line has the same number of syllables – seven, which means that to get it to work out, I had to resort to French to find words that fit and also rhyme.

ROOTED

Past the turn of the trail, there
he is, peering, unaware
of me, at the tree roots, bare
of debris. A scarlet flare
now shows through a gap, a tear
in the soil bed, beneath where
growths push up into the air.

Sap flows carmine to prepare
for spring. In the earthy lair
below: un rouge luminaire,
glowing in the dark. We stare
at them snaking through the gair,
those red limbs that form a stair.
And know, we’re like that, a pair -
nous, enraciné dans la terre.

*un rouge luminaire – a red light/lamp
*gair – a strip or patch of fertile grass
*nous, enraciné dans la terre – us, rooted in the earth