Alicia Elkort
Turning Stones
I remember the flavor of absence, the way
he reached for my lips, tried to taste our blood.
And when the owl looked back & flew to darkness,
a train lifted tracks out of our lost town.
He asked why my heart is a cadaver,
then offered an avocado pit, cleaned,
which I buried underfoot, & while it rooted,
bearing fruit in some life I haven’t known,
I’ve forgotten which foot ferries the seed.
A Dream
I walked along a wildwood path,
a persimmon glowed come hither
& a small gray bird lit upon my arm
holding a branch that held a pear,
the shape of an invitation.
I’d never had a choice like this—
something good or something gooder.
My toes pressed into the loamy earth—
it had rained the night before
& the sky pressed some kind of blue
as if from an oil paint tube.
Have you never imagined
how the ground you set your foot upon
becomes holy?
The bird took flight leaving the branch
at my feet.
I ate both the pear and the persimmon that morning.
Anyone would have done the same.
Any Small Grace
What if confession were a box brimming with icy light,
more shine than glacial bodies or rivers arcing toward release?
What if we were to bow our heads to a candle’s blue fury,
would that be enough obeisance to walk through wild rye?
What if we were on our knees, the trees’ shadows across
our faces, with nothing but insects screeching for deliverance?
What if the night were so dark we’d have to see
with our skin and the small hairs across our arms?
What if the sky were milky and strange, could we walk
tender footed to find what we have been looking for?
What if we were quiet, fever full, is this how we would name our gods?
Alicia Elkort‘s first book of poetry, A Map of Every Undoing was published in 2022 by Stillhouse Press with George Mason University, after winning their book contest. Alicia’s poetry has been nominated several times for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and the Orison Anthology, and her work appears in numerous journals and anthologies. She reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal where she also writes reviews. For more info or to watch her two video poems: http://aliciaelkort.mystrikingly.com/
