Then Came Red Rock: Emi, Jackie

March 25, 2020 Kate Belew with Emi, Jackie (New York)

Approach it as an archaeological dig

what remains, remains. 

A sandcastle the tide couldn't take

beneath the floorboards of youth.

I welcomed aging, knew it was coveted 

by the rough, straggly sage, and the smoke

smell that stayed on your clothes for days.

Do we make ourselves bonfire or pyre?

Are you the fire or the witness?

The first road was a river, then came red rock 

and then came the willingness to leave  - 

I darn holes in your socks like my buoyancy depends on it

exposing the incult land we walk upon.