Flood the Rivers

By Christa Fairbrother

Look at the river bedding
on your arms, the doctor says
with a tone somewhere between
admiration and satisfaction.
Can’t quite tell, since
I have no creative part to play
in the runnels that lay
parallel to my bones.
If I did, the canals would flood
until the rivulets became an ocean’s
worth of salt water, siren song
a tsunami to wash clean
these topographical anomalies,
leave me spacious, eroded
to start over again
without notable features for tourists.

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Christa Fairbrother, MA, is a Florida-based writer living with chronic illnesses. She’s the author of the award-winning Water Yoga (Singing Dragon, 2022).  Her poetry has appeared in DMQ Review, The London Reader, and Unbroken, among others.  Connect with her: www.christafairbrotherwrites.com.