Hello, everyone. Recently, I collaborated with esteemed poet Joni Caggiano to create a piece of poetry, and this poem, “Walking Tree,” is now available at Hotel by Masticadores. A special thanks to editor Michelle Navajas for publishing this collaborative effort, and, of course, to Joni for asking me to work with her on this piece. It was truly an honor to team up with such a brilliant writer and wonderful friend. Joni’s profound and moving writing and beautiful photography can be experienced on her blog, Rum and Robots.

(Note: Currently, there’s a spacing issue between stanzas 10 and 11 in our poem at Hotel, but we’re working on getting that issue fixed.)

“Walking Tree”

© 2026 collaboration by Joni Caggiano and Mike Utley

sorrow whispers, a trail of ants
vapors torpid, their sting savage
memories choke, a riff on my sanity
night terrors open a door; I navigate

this silence is not silence
it is the groaning of eternity
the synaptic death-throes of
what once made me human

innate images, a stolen span of time
sacred sensations indelibly imprinted
naked bodies on airbrushed fields
heat rises, a bashful sun misleads

the stones of the fallow field
understand this moribund keening
in their granite hearts
atoms tremble and thrum…

You can read the rest of our poem here:

“Walking Tree” Collaboration by Joni Caggiano and Mike Utley © 2026

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