I am not one for swampy places

Chloe Sherrill-Howell / V Mag at UVA

I am not one /

for swampy places / sticky slick milky places / that steal my

shoes and / I am / ankle-deep in muck / I am / buried in

sweat blindly / hand-pulling hair / from my face / from water

mangled trees and / bushes splayed vein-like / I thought I

saw / in reflections rippling harshly / an egret but / she was

only a cloud / or maybe just / gone too soon / So I turn / to

the little biting things / that swarm and dive / at my ankles as

they / stick me full of holes and / poison me on their way out

/ stealing / long gulping tastes of / sweet blood / yes in their

thirst they have made me / a patchwork of / small red

mountains / This place / has left me / gasping for air and

clawing at / clothes stuck wetly to back and ribs / I know I will

paint / fresh ground with this mud / will leave vestiges behind

/ the shape of wild irises / until the last of it / has broken /

from my sole