Willow catches the waste. In closed basins, grown facing one sun, branches learn to sieve well before weaving: foul mud, noxious fumes, plastic jetsam caught in its green netted pond. Slumping switches practice in turns towards the speckled light what a cut death demands—vessels made of rolled and twining lines—when the moon rises. The leaves remember and shake. Soaked for another cradle, prepared to sleep on their own, new sprigs and shoots swirl then stretch—ends chewed, fodder softened for your other shore. Nearby, orchard orioles nudge against night. Accept each branches’ handhold. Swallow breath as the basket is carried. Know a tide is coming.
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Cathlin Noonan (she/her) is a poet based out of San Marcos, Texas. Cathlin’s poem “Ghazal With Louse” was a finalist for Crazyhorse‘s Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize for 2022, and her poem “Setting the Record” was a finalist for Broad River Review‘s 2022 Rash Award in Poetry. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Meridian, Denver Quarterly, Salamander, and Lumina among others. She can be found online at cathlinnoonan.com.
