Who has a whole life left
to set this straight? And, the ones
that do, why
should I leave them
this work?
Impossible
that I will not continue forever
to lean into the wheel alongside. Today I revise
my directives. I choose: immerse me in water
and lye, may I be less a burden
for this burdened
blue dot. Dear ones, receive
my bones, still hard
but ground. Do not carry them
to my beloved
river, lest they harm the silver
bass, the solemn
snails, the plants waving
the water, the water reflecting
you, the water
all of you still must drink.
This poem first appeared in EcoTheo Collective Review (2023).
—
Suzanne Swanson is the author of House of Music and the chapbook What Other Worlds: Postpartum Poems. Suzanne is a winner of the Loft Mentor Series; she helped to found Laurel Poetry Collective. Recent poems have appeared in EcoTheo Review, Terrain.org, The Hopper and West Trade Review. In 2022, she co-edited the hybrid chapbook, All You Need Is One Avocado. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Suzanne is happiest near big water.
