********-after Erika L. Sanchez

 

Incarnation of the escaped,

************************of the recluse

Tail tapered
by Thor

************************ray-finned                                           trout-brother

blue sheen mouth
********************************agape

Your small edible eye
seeking your birthplace                                   burdensome belly

****************ready with egg

Tail destined to push
Beyond a river’s crust

********************************To leave behind
********************************A pool                                     of waiting

Coastal dweller
****************your fry will find their mother
****************in her alkali slick

********************************to see their small faces
********************************at the mouth where river meets brine

********************************to witness their great unraveling

not recognizing their own features                                                                 in your visage

*

Danielle Susi is the author of the chapbook The Month in Which We Are Born (dancing girl press, 2015). Her writing has appeared in Knee-Jerk Magazine, Hobart, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her full-length manuscript A River Always Ends at a Mouth, has been selected as a semi-finalist for both the Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize at Persea Books and the Hudson Prize at Black Lawrence Press. She received her MFA in writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently lives and works in Utah. Find her online at daniellesusi.com