Glenis Redmond
We Not that Carefree
Daughters of mine: you are given grief
because you do not camp easily.
You rest hard on open ground
and wrestle with water when you swim.
Remember this: you are my best
of both earth & sky. Do not apologize
for why you don’t dig nature, all the time.
You don’t have to answer
for the code unleashed
in your bones. You did not cause
the unnatural tilt of trees
or the reflections of a boy named
Emmet Till: cherubic caramel face,
held wide-eyed underwater.
You do not to have to jump off cliffs
and simulate Mountain Dew ads
to hold God’s green hand.
You’ve been schooled:
that all around history’s ground
is sinking sand.
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Artwork on this page:
Detail of Supper for the spotted skunk
24 x 24" oil on clayboard, 2014
Irene Hardwicke Olivieri
Detail of Supper for the spotted skunk
24 x 24" oil on clayboard, 2014
Irene Hardwicke Olivieri