BY SARAH STOCKTON
A note from the author: The artist Melissa McCanna made an ekphrastic painting (see below) after the below poem "Salt and Other Spells.” It was exhibited at a gallery in Washington.
Melissa McCanna
Salt and Other Spells
We were water once
cyclical, transforming
salt and sediment into scales
anadromous/
moving from sea into sweet water
catadromous/
fresh to salt
to spawn/ traveling
in deep sea channels
transitioning/
from silvery blue
to darker, going home
as we, floundering at water’s edge
turn in four directions/
three visions/ seven cycles
scrying into water
Spells of Desperation
Ablating
the effluvia clogging my heart, cauterizing
rusty swords blackberry thorns
Ripping
apart whole decades, reams of
photographs prayer books
Shrinking
into a shape un-recognizable
binding cloths barbed wire cloaks
Rolling
jade stones over my face
chemical peels tuning forks
Throwing
myself on the mercy of the court
strip teases plea bargains
Writing
love letters to my maker
confessions devotions
Sarah Stockton, MA. After several years working in urban universities as staff and adjunct, Sarah now lives in the rural Pacific Northwest where she practices the spiritual arts, serves as a freelance writer and editor, and writes poems.