Go back and find the pressing mouth
asleep on the forest floor
under the crush of it all,
layered crust of musky leaves,
brown, rust, damp as
the creases of his eyelids,
that crinkled map,
that flip of heart,
the smiling elm with jagged teeth,
the yellow birch’s bark removed
to scribble the story’s ending:
a scarlet dripping canopy,
soft, suffocating sound.
Paula Sergi holds a BSN from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College. A Wisconsin Arts Board Artist Fellowship Recipient, her poetry publications include Primavera, Crab Orchard Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review. Her books include Brother, Boomer Girls, Family Business, A Call to Nursing and Meditations on Hope.
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