an earlier arrangement

& the persistence of matter

close up of frost patterns on a window pane

where i am what i carry
limestone in the architecture
of my teeth, old seas
gone hard inside me
the quake of shifting earth
the silent reach of filaments
dendrites threading through the soil
of this place
where i carry
forgotten songs to long-gone
stars
mud ripened by the bodies
i have absorbed into me
by teeth
caught in my right hand, the sick
gathered between my elbows and
my heart, the faces i have held between
these, my grandmother’s hands

Author: Stacey C. Johnson

I keep watch and listen, mostly in dark places.

2 thoughts on “an earlier arrangement”

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Breadcrumbs

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading