All in by Sandra Fees

My Neighbor, This Heatwave, We Argue, He Waters the Grass

SWWIM Every Day
by Sandra Fees

by Sandra Fees


I spume water into the birdbath
the grackle’s shoulders gleaming amethyst
the yellow eye hot as the Anthropocene.

Dear lord, listen,
it’s only June.

Tonight I’m taking a class on listening.
You’d think we’d have learned by now.

I practice listening to this body
that needs to find a spell
that can cool a woman.
Or planet.

I practice with peaches
their warm flesh fresh from the orchard
plucked right out from under the sun’s bright cheeks.

I listen. I practice being a peach.

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Sandra Fees’ poetry has appeared in Crab Creek Review, Nimrod, River Heron Review, and Witness, among others. Her first full-length collection, Wonderwork (BlazeVOX Books), was released in October 2024.