These are the long weeks of waiting for the air to clear from distant fires.
Birds-of-paradise wake us from dreams of burning worlds.
Let the disappearing rivers fill to meet us where we sit.
Pray as rising waters swallow houses built on borrowed land.
Let us remember the boy pounding pavement
with the ball he later throws through hoops.
Let him catch and return it to its place.
Let us all return to the place we can feel
at home or just feel again the sadness
of soil. Let the sadness bloom into forgiveness.
Let us forgive the tall grasses for smothering
the lilies, the green tomatoes that turn towards the sun.
Let them become orange before we leave.
Let us gather the ripened strawberries before
the dogs devour them.
Let the trees hold rain long after.
—
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
