brattleboro vt

after Ask the River, a community art project led by artists Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman. On display at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

brattleboro vt

I spoke with the river. It told me
things are dire—there is no longer
a seat at the table.
One never asks to be told here.

I covered every inch to the river. It advised
me to go with the flow. Of course I took it
personally but I wouldn’t tell a soul.

It said my blankets are not heavy enough, my layers
not dense enough, my thoughts not grave
enough to withstand the cold. I am thinning out, it’s true.

Back at the house I panicked, lost
my cool, googled “how to get away
with murder” and now they’re on to me.

History runs deep here. One could be
buried in an instant. The postcards, the protests,
none of it matters. There’s poison in the water.
The creatures will leave us for dead.