Poetry from Beth Gordon

Photo: Parrish Freeman

(Invertebrate) (Damage)

Resist swallowing. The cells beneath your tongue are thick with seraphim. They will slide
answers between your teeth. Cavities
are collateral damage. Follow

the surgeon’s voice through the invertebrate circle of circles.
The ouroboros is just another
…………………………………..lost snake
in this scenario. A pilot without brakes. Follow all instructions:
at this speed oceans can kill.

…………………………Tin pan your way
through the river of marigolds.
…………………………Assemble an army
of tulips. This is not a drill.

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Beth Gordon is a poet, mother and grandmother currently living in Asheville, NC. Her poems have been published in Poet Lore, Citron Review, SWWIM, Pithead Chapel, Moist Poetry, Okay Donkey and others. She is the author of several chapbooks including The Water Cycle (2022, Variant Literature). Her chapbook, How To Keep Things Alive, is forthcoming from Split Rock Press in 2023. Beth is Managing Editor of Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art, Assistant Editor of Animal Heart Press, and Grandma of Femme Salve Books. Twitter and Instagram @bethgordonpoet.