sticking your head in a lake is a reset button, actually

Next Time For Sure

"... even water / and its delicate warm hands could ruin you."

how to lie on your back underwater and not drown your fool self

oh charm of the woods, oh stillness
                as it settles into frozen limbs,
                                oh patience of the night.

oh revelational

It dug its claws in, hissing and swearing and, finally, snapping its bony little fingers.

We all seemed, very suddenly, to be lifted into the air and pinned bodily to the ceiling.

“Fine,” the imp spat, “deal with it yourselves, see if I care!”

Leah Tuckwiller

Selected work