i.
the pussypaws’
magenta and white
pom-poms
dot the creekside meadow. tiny torches rise
on red stems to soak in sun-rays. evening retracts
them to the embrace of a ground-level
leaf-circle.
i envy their simplicity
as if they had read Ecclesiastes
and decided to live it
ii.
the sun and the trees together
paint the green river
yellow
iii.
the spotted sandpiper sails above
the rushing river, rests
on a dirt ledge before preening.
finally, she pecks the shallows
and the shoreline, investigating
inch-by-inch for insects.
she is a dreamer and an engineer.
iv.
the current numbs my legs
while i sit on a rock watching. my sped up mind
tries to absorb its surroundings—
it takes what cues it can.
link to video
Ann Tweedy's first full-length book, The Body's Alphabet, was published by Headmistress Press in 2016. It earned a Bisexual Book Award in Poetry and was also a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and for a Golden Crown Literary Society Award. Ann also has published three chapbooks, Beleaguered Oases, White Out, and A Registry of Survival. Her poems have appeared in Rattle, Literary Mama, Clackamas Literary Review, Naugatuck River Review, and many other places, and she has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two Best of the Net Awards. A law professor by day, Ann has devoted her career to serving Native Tribes. She currently teaches at University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law.