“They will keep coming back to the same swamp each winter until it’s clean-
and then leave their bones among the cedars.” -Durward L. Allen
I Lie Down
I wait in the woods,
I stand still as a white cedar
and hold my hands out
like branches until branches
sprout from my ribcage.
I stand still like this and wait
until the deer come to strip
my lower limbs clean down
to my furrowed bark.
I lie down here by the copper-
colored water until it blooms
white and thickens, then greys
and turns to ice.
I lie down in this silent clearing
and slow my heart to barely beating
until vines grow around my damp
and greening body.
The deer cross and recross animal
paths to return under bluer skies
and in this way, grasses will grow
and insect my clothing.
They come and go and I lay my
body down, dumbstruck.
by Liane Tyrrel
from the Echotheo review