Emerson Steady
in deference to Andrea Carlson
I cannot describe
the heat of the sun
beating down on America
never was America but for the blade
Of grass at the edge of the garden
of time bitter and shorn
far from the old-
growth ash and oak
You are in translation
you are a beating heart beneath the
verse like a city like a treaty
like a family on the highway
We are flammable
towering people
people like snow
towers like people
But when flames fall from heaven to
catch on our dry skin
and dusty prayers
the breath of survival destruction
The light on the sea is a country
You are a person
I will never meet
We are born to face the light
Or murder with an eyeglass
scent of smoke in our hair and sweetgrass
always burning never burning
out
Emerson Steady is a trans poet focused on making spiritual and transformative art. Originally from California, she is a junior in the theatre and creative writing programs.
