F I R E / G A R D E N
Olivia Kamer
In the garden,
gentleness grows
within
the space below
all roots rich
with minerals,
memory,
alchemy,
there is a fire
contained
your lungs
waiting to be expelled
and
left to—
bloom.
THIS
This feral faith that holds
my head under the water,
that rolls me in the mud,
twigs and leaves—makes me a daughter
of a ragged royalty. I am skinned
knees, ripped jeans, bruised brow.
Incense in my sanctuary—pine straw,
dandelion down. Prayers are wind-
strewn seed. Possum-plod and deer
spring, my creed. Crown me
with daisies so I may cast them down
at the mountain-root, my father’s throne.
Emma Galloway Stephens
FERAL
Faith
PERSEPHONE LITERARY MAGAZINE
05
POETRY