Pickleweed Inlet

a free verse poem for riparian: the banks of our love

Blue Heron in Pickleweed Inlet by Samantha Wallen

“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