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Vines, in which she is the earth

Betty Stanton

nothing keeps your 

spine numb, cold  

nothing dissolves you 

like this dance, this 

turning you to foam

                        to mist

                        to drowned roots

plant them deep and they

will grow 

             like

                        vines.

Drowned, in which she is the sky

you were drowning 

when the sky found you, 

corrupted & hungry  

& breathing you like air,

                  an aching moment 

                  for starved lungs,  

when you sink

          the sky crushes your shadow

                                     behind you.

Betty Stanton (she/her) is a writer who lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals and collections and has been included in anthologies from Dos Gatos Press and Picaroon Poetry Press. She received her MFA from The University of Texas - El Paso.

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