Misstep
they’re back this year
vermilion shoots
burst from the soil
we didn’t burn deep enough
when we cleared the land
native roots are tough
*
strange feathers
beneath each hen
the orb that killed her
desperate for protein
we never heard
them hatch
*
some women
their bellies swelling
crave native fruits
ordinary foods
are ashes in their mouths
their sunken eyes
*
corner crack
the tiniest vine
finds a way
two days with our lasers
recovered the structure
at least
*
forests do the wave
as if flea bitten
the planet twitches
each epicenter
closer than the last
something come
*
blood warm rain
we watch the heavens
bruise & darken
this thunder a language
our brains lack
a tongue for
*
eye-corner motion
I almost shot
my brother today
we’re all jumpy since
the mayor disappeared
her unfired gun
*
tree shadows at dusk
the ones we never planted
not-trees / not-shadows
closer each evening
when we opaque our windows
some have faces
*
this world is not ours
native microbes
make moves we can’t counter
growths appear
on fabric on skin
things fall apart
*
parasites in flight
ancestral vessel
savaged salvaged savior
native to nowhere
wishing on next star
kinder