by Margery Hannah Before I paved still air to my place of bread I was unpleasant unpleasantly duressed by a lack of water I could wash neither body nor favorite dress nor feed my yielding inedible plant nor swallow it 240 minutes waterless So I quenched my thirst with color from geographical pages and saw a girl with eyes old and body young crying tears to water food refusing to grow beneath the lit torch Her clothes a part of her being, who she is and is not who she dreams of leaving behind One day, one day, one day she will live in the water She will breathe the water eat the water, commit to the water She will be the water and dry air will vanish belly cries will disappear and my drained throat will be her ice filled glass of water My inedible plant, vast and green her fruit tree and in my soap filled washing water she will bathe the earth from her dust filled skin She will drink water, tearless She will teach the water to be as the earth residue that would not wash away Her eyes are tearless, yet crying from the guilt of knowing ways unpleasant, unpleasant, unpleasant
By Margery Hannah
© Margery Hannah 2003-2022 All Rights Reserved
