Malak Mattar, Untitled (detail), 2024, charcoal on paper
Lines Written at Dog’s Head Falls, Johnson, Vermont
On a stone by the river
I peer into clear on pebbles round a stick bug
who the breeze on surface film baffles & sways
gray shadow on mud ambered under
these beings who hang suspended
head to spine to tail that twists & flicks
& darts curls up held to hover
over a leaf the pool’s turned translucent
gold-veined a wing—
among the heads & tails—
held suspended simply spinning
as the planet heats
what were you early what will you become?
Poetry
Vanished Qilou Building, Bali by Yang Biwei
Translated from the Chinese by Liang Yujing
Poetry

K. A. Hays is the author of four books of poetry, including Anthropocene Lullaby (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2022). Hays teaches at Bucknell University and directs the Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets. (updated 4/2022)