“To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian” by Ross Gay (2013)

Originally published in American Poetry Review, this is the first poem in Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. Set in Philadelphia, the poem centers on Gay’s meditation on a fig tree in the city and what it means to the people who eat its fruit. Fig trees are alluded to in “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” creating a holistic sense to the collection’s start and finish. This poem also shows Gay’s signature short line style and quick pace: the poem is one long sentence. Also apparent are the love of nature, people, Gay’s awareness of his cultural ancestors, and his interest in building community. The poem ends with a line suggesting that those clustered around the fig tree will become joined, “strangers maybe / never again.”

“Burial” by Ross Gay (2013)

Published in Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices in 2013, “Burial” is also collected in Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. This poem discusses Gay’s relationship with his father, his death in the hospital, and his imagined resurrection in a plum tree Gay tends as he “peer[s] out from the sweet meat / with his hands pressed against the purple skin / like cathedral glass” (Lines 56-58).