Inspired by the poem
"Prayer for My Bath"
Suzanne Underwood Rhodes
—Written after reading Jane Hirshfield’s
“Now a Darkness is Coming”
by Marie Kressin
Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach
from Shoulders a poem by Shane Koyczan
Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach
each week she’s something edible
but new from poppy seed to sesame
to blueberry & kidney bean to kumquat
or a nectarine or pear or sweet
potato or papaya to kabocha
squash & then a pineapple & honey-
dew until she is so close to being you
that even as canary melon
yellowing below with still some weeks
of different fruits & vegetables to grow
you almost know the way her skin will taste
that small mouth made of yours
will eat this watermelon world