name the earth’s every curve
soil and rock sing until they lose meaning
below you, I am the flock of doves
cooing and flapping, free fall
is this how the river feels
to look up and see graffiti on the chipped concrete bridge
I may grieve like a flower
but I always find a way to tilt my face towards the sun
like a sieve, I let the small jagged pieces fall through me
only the large shards can cut my palms, anyways
if my heart is an open door, grief is a floormat
with the corners all curled up at the ends
I trip over them whenever I think of you
my body is a bowl for the earth
Raphaela Pavlakos
Raphaela Pavlakos (she/her) is a 3rd-year PhD candidate in McMaster University’s English and Cultural Studies department and a poet. Her research looks at Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee poetry and landscape as alternative sites of memory, using research-creation to intersect her scholarly and creative production. Raphaela’s poetry can be found in the Talon Review, Persimmon Review, Taj Mahal Review, Word Hoard, Sanctuary: A Cootes Paradise Anthology, and graduate journals like The Lamp. She co-authored a self-published poetry collection called Mythopoesis in 2022 with Georgia Perdikoulias, which is available through Kindle Direct Publishing.