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Pickleweed Inlet
a free verse poem for riparian: the banks of our love
“we must all
be notorious, ready to die
for your gospel of crack
and eggshell…
heirs of air and cloud,
blood brothers of breath
and wind…”
— from irreplaceable, Part 11 by Willy Palomo
how might i disappear, willingly
be broken eggshell
so scattered there’s no way
to continue to place myself
at the center
how might i disappear, willingly
be crude oil bird wing
so tarred i cannot take flight
and own the sky
how might i disappear, willingly
be sea hare poisoned
so extinct there’s no memory
of my clever designs many
generations from now
how might i go completely
sentient
be a larger logic
great blue heron
aplomb in the glimmer
of Pickleweed Inlet
be fine sediment
so sensitive
every depression
reshapes me
be reduced
by all this thought of saving
everything so i can be
a hero
there could be an ending
that vanishes me
the way i tried to disappear, willingly
today while walking the shoreline
curious as sunlight how to be
heir to air and cloud
allowed in without a body
the way i just heard
Colin Turnbull once said
Pygmy stories always end with
“…and everyone died”
This poem is one in a series, Riparian: the banks of our love, a poetic collaboration for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) with Samantha Wallen and Michelle Puckett.
To read the previous poem in the series, click HERE.
To read the next poem in the series click HERE.
Samantha Wallen, MFA is a poet, writer, writing guide & book coach who offers writing circles, workshops, community writing programs, private mentoring, and retreats for writers & want-to-be writers. Her work on and off the page seeks to restore the soul of our world one word at a time.
