
ALT The Shape Of Absence Chalk around the bed is giving shape to what the poet cannot name. Perplexity has an appearance, but grief is not prolix. On the dresser, a glass cygnet inside a miniature wire pyramid, two pieces of red hard candy, and a carving knife with a wooden handle. In the garden outside the window, Jack Frost has paralysed marigolds and midnight roses. Between them, the bridge of shadows appears. The frat's midnight masquerade moves in an orchestrated sinuositis. They are cheering me on: "Take the long road home...!" But I have lost my eye for the scenic route. La Catrina, Queen of the Afterlife, smiles, as I whisper: "Until death remembers us." The shoreline, white as chalk, evolves as my breath flattens... © Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree

ALT After Everything Changes Interesting, isn't it, how we hold the most ordinary moments sacred. Like the first witch hazel flower in January's frost. What a robust little plant it is. A forlorn snowflake falls through the hamamelis-scented mist, followed by the evening. The wave of curiosity ebbs away. While the heart still clings to that elated feeling, sacred quietly turns to scared, again. Perhaps this is the preface of scarred, I wonder. I stare into the haze with eyes as hollow as theatrical stars. They know how to hide the regurgitating horror. Only not from myself. We all have our jabberwokies. Yours set my roof on fire. Mine is gnawing away at my base. © Stefanie Neumann - @KokopelliBFree

ALT Continental Drift Like tectonic plates driven by the ridge push we travel towards each other.Upon contact,the boundary friction lets us take turns in orogeny & subduction until the continental drift pushes us apart again. Over time,an ocean of tears washes away all the regolith.Fossils buried inside the deeper sediments are denudated.Occasionally a hotspot reminds us of the fiery force underneath it all.It makes us wonder what gems may shine once erosion has polished the metamorphic rock enough. Then the ridge push sets in,again.Stronger,this time.First comes the fault.Then the joints open & I fall through the cracks.Now I sit in this dark cave,petrified,hoping you won't find me. © Stefanie Neumann -@KokopelliBFree My List Of 16 Geological Terms • Petrified • Eroded • Tectonic plates • Hotspot • Orogeny • Subduction • Cave • Ridge push • Continental drift • Sediment • Denudation • Regolith • Fossils • Metamorphic rock • Joint • Fault












