The border says stop to the wind but the wind speaks another language
and keeps going
Alberto Rios
They removed the fence that separates waves
from people walking There’s nothing between us
and water turning like oceans of larger coasts
The day we didn’t dig my uncle’s grave
a Derecho swept the shores
of Lake Michigan uprooted
ancient Maples American Ash
We ran against the darkening sky
sheltered indoors and watched
from a safe distance
His ashes danced
the rhythms of distant waters
They call it erosion when waves take
more than they give back
swallow the sand beneath our feet
If you walk away
from the lake towards the shadows
of hundred-year-old homes
you’ll see ladders still leaning
towards the roofs that failed
when hail bombarded us in April
the night before the holiday of plagues
We tried to collect ourselves and the shards
that landed in our gardens
Hands still raw from March winds
we planted against tyranny
and later gathered zucchini
tomatoes and basil
There were seeds that promised
to sprout but lay dormant
We watered throughout July’s drought
nodded at neighbors through cloth
masks and gloved knuckles
We kept turning the earth planting milkweed
next to dreams
of an ordinary life
It’s autumn and time
to remove the tangled roots
of what no longer bears fears
I had meant to write fruit What
no longer bears
fruit but fear accompanies
every gesture
I am writing to tell you that skies change suddenly
roots that seem deep can be lifted
by November wind
Listen closely nearby is the water
we call life
This poem first appeared in December Magazine snd Shore (2023).
—
Dina Elenbogen is author of the poetry collections, Shore and Apples of the Earth, as well as the memoir, Drawn from Water. She’s received fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council and the Ragdale Foundation. Her work has appeared in anthologies and magazines including Fury, City of the Big Shoulders, Beyond Lament, Lit Hub, Bellevue Literary Review, Brevity, Prairie Schooner, december, Woven Tale Press, Cimmaron Review, Patterson Literary Review, Connecticut River Review, New City Chicago and other venues. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago Writer’s Studio. You can find her at www.dinaelenbogen.com
