after “The Frog’s Return” by Sophia Kurtz

my sin was prying your muddy roots loose

leeches torn from skin; leaking

silt and kerosene, vellum

caps sprouting in the place you once grew

lichen scabbed stone

in fresh air still

i yearn for your sweetsick

matches; ever-burnt

caramel curls;

indented ridges of my back

baptise me in swamp water,

coat my body in algae, in duckweed,

thread your roots through my veins

branch; burrow; worm

through my three-chambered heart;

dreaming moss-draped rabbit kits

i’ll never leave again