one year i rose &
there was snow smothering the leaves i
watched a flake drift over the flowers bloomed
a robin swallowed & recoiled &
the earth seemed as if everything had lost
its name
may
may forgetful snow fall here my
memories repackaged & served in dust
& gradually the hills filled with the tremors of
earth undug & the groundhogs took cover
it became a land of corn & snow
the rows ornamented in perpetual christmastime
(that was the only holiday we celebrated here)
in the end jesus would die again
(& where would we crucify him? in the chicken
coops his arms splayed against crushed beaks
& broken wings brown his arms like mine & yet)
he dies he dies again because who is willing to die
for their sins of plastic bags &
pedals pressed
oh lord this earth was never ours to begin with let
the rivers overflow so it can feel what it is to
be human let us drown in its salted
tears dance ourselves off the face of
Earth until we have undone the ground & its
toiled soil & then we shall return to
-Lily Shukla
