FIG TREE AT BIG SUR  

Each day leaning

into morning,

five-fingered leaves

wave in unison,

beckon jays

for branch-play.

The youngest leaves 

arch green faces upward,

devour sun off the Pacific.

The golden elders 

bow closer to earth—

the perfect shape

for water to run

as rain, as fog

down to the root line.

When afternoon rays

light them just right,

they become a ring 

of open palms 

giving the last 

of what they have.

Kelly Cressio-Moeller’s poetry has appeared in Boxcar Poetry Review, burntdistrict, Crab Orchard Review, Gargoyle, Poet Lore, Rattle, Southern Humanities Review, THRUSH Poetry Journal, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and ZYZZYVA, among others. She is an Associate Editor at Glass Lyre Press.