Chitra Ganesh, How to Assemble a Flying Car (detail), 2018, linocut on tan BFK Rives. Courtesy of the artist & Durham Press.
Lines Written at Dog’s Head Falls, Johnson, Vermont
On a stone by the riverwhat pools in boulders
I peer intoclear on pebbles round a stick bug
who the breeze on surface film baffles & sways
gray shadow on mud ambered under
these beingswho hang suspended
head to spine to tail that twists & flicks
& darts curls upheld to hover
over a leaf the pool’s turned translucent
gold-veineda wing—
among the heads & tails—
held suspended simplyspinning
as the planet heats
what were you earlywhat will you become?
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)