Poem for New Zine
I am born to wetlands
I was raised by herons
my feet sink into
shifting muck like
cattail roots anchor
the lowest low of the river
right before becoming a great lake
trash floats in freshwater veins
invisible nylon lines
tangle my tongue
my brain and organs
swim in mercury
fluid coal ash
radioactive runoff
in my hometown
ducks waddle with
lures pierced through
delicately webbed toes
setting sunlight dissolves
the crumbling hydro-electric dam
built by Michigan’s
most celebrated nazi
his legacy decomposes
in thick scum where
lilies will bloom again and
frogs sing at twilight
I wrote this poem today for the upcoming spring/summer volume of A More-Than-Human Society. I’ve yet to write a blog post about the zine project even though it’s been on my docket of to-do’s since it was launched last September at Gluestick Zine Fest in Indianapolis. Working on that! Anyway, the second volume will be themed around place. The piece above is about a place that is very much a part of me… downriver, Michigan. I am always in awe of its beauty and resistance to neglect by a materialistic and industrialized culture. Speaking of industry, Henry Ford is a name you’ll see all around Detroit; he was a rampant anti-semite and nazi-sympathizer/collaborator.
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