Ode to Moss
in the beginning there was you
from algae to land
450 million years without roots
your filaments able on hard rock
in mineral soil, disturbed soil
you who inhabits the logs
the burnt stumps, the bogs
on cliff seeps, waterfall sprays
you, unassuming
in cracks between paving stones
slippery on damp Singapore streets
on roofs, a garden weed in Vancouver
you, cosmopolitan
you, the carbon soaking sidewalk moss
water soaking the small light of shade
you, wholly aquatic citizen of the marshes
you creep in the slow-moving waterways
to become more of yourself
you travel across continents with the ease
of unseen things, soft and smooth
your velvet green measures the air
you survive desiccation, extremes
you return to life like a sponge
that sucks up moisture in thin air
like us, an immigrant
an immigrant
you epiphyte, on cedars and oaks
you green balm, you antiseptic swathe
you fill the bandages of the wounded
the long history of devastation
here the luxuriant green growth
points to the boreal tundra
you warm reindeer blood
on its arctic journey
“The Southern Living” advises,
questions, is it hurting the grass
this primitive… will it disturb
the civilized manicured perfection
how to get rid of moss in your lawn
after long winters I come into the woods
to touch the downed trees
I find you here holding the soil
with your fragmented colonies
I find you mothering the understory
we, immigrants here, we meet
Mona Zamfirescu is a Professor of Mathematics; she has been teaching at Baruch College since 2003. Although Mona has pursued a career as a mathematician, at heart, she is an artist who delights in poetry, photography, painting, graphic art, baking, and crafts of all kinds. Mona has enrolled in the MFA program in Creative Writing/Poetry in the Fall 2024, CCNY. Mona is a 2024 Pushcart nominee for her poem “American Soldier” published by Mayari Literature Journal. Her work has appeared in various journals and anthologies like Mayari Literature, Fixed and Free, Brownstone Poets, NJ Bards Poetry Review 2025 and the Promethean Journal.
The Marbled Sigh 