Today I Imagined Your Face In Shadow

Be with me in that place
where the sun’s rays shine so brightly on the tall grass
the earth is a child who feels understood

let the bed be made and unmade

imagine the world with me
imagine the world without me

some days I’m perched like a bird looking down at what we used to be

some days I’m so deeply rooted
the roots are frozen, impossible to pull from the earth
until spring
it’s just us rooted
in transactional weather

sometimes I’m intent on seeing the future,
I look to any body of water
to suggest
who we might become.

*

Rachael Mayer is a social worker, teacher, and poet who lives in Montclair, New Jersey. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including The Kenyon Review, The Hiram Poetry Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Avatar Review, Mothers Always Write, Street Light Press, and Typishly.