CRY ME A RIVER
Cry.Cry me a river.
Cry me an airlock.
Cry me dried moss and withered tree roots.
Cry me blue plankton, brown fungi, green grass.
Real grass, green grass.
Cry.
Cry.
Cry me an ocean.
Cry me the sound of running water.
The drip drip drip of raindrops on leaves.
Of water swelling stems and branches.
The rushing sound of the sea in my ears.
Cry me chlorophyll and photosynthesis.
Cry me carbon-based lifeforms and morphogenesis.
Cry me lungs on fire, the Amazon rainforest.
Salt lakes and volcanic springs.
Cry me cracking icebergs, glacial degradation.
Coastal erosion, the splintering of seasons.
Cry.
Cry me the flight of the humble bee.
The starling’s migratory path.
The wandering albatross soaring over the sea.
Cry.
Cry me an oxygen tent.
Cry me a blazing sunset.
Cry me the silver sliver of dawn on the horizon.
Cry me genetically modified crops.
Pesticides and Agent Orange.
Cry me all the colours of the blessed rainbow.
Cry me the beautiful refraction of light on an oil slick.
Cry me cumulonimbus and cirrostratus.
Cry.
Cry.
Cry me morning dew, melting icicles.
The immortal jellyfish and Bristlecone Pine.
Cry me the holy moon.
Cry me a diluvium basin.
Cry me an ox-bow lake.
Cry me the ancient fern.
Cry me the whorl of calyx protecting the bud.
Cry.
Cry me a River.
Cry me the Susquehanna.
The Larapinta, la Meuse and the Nile.
Cry me the living Ganges and the lost Saraswati.
Cry.
Cry.
Cry.
JP Seabright reads Cry Me A River
Tendrils
reaching φ touching φ fingertips φ branches φ dwelling φ quaking φ aspen clones
φ largest single organism φ community collective parenting φ spring-fed lake φ
ecosystem φ individual φ connective tissue φ genetically identical φ interconnected roots
φ last ice age φ climate change-related φ ever-dwindling water φ thousands of years φ
woodland of trees φ striking white bark φ dappled shade canopy φ stimulates new growth
φ light reaches the woodland floor φ
deer overgrazing φ older stems affected φ sooty bark canker φ leaf spot and conk
φ fungal disease φ fastest-growing threat φ 14,000 years φ European settlers φ
φ world’s largest scientifically documented organism φ
φ plant species φ pollinating φ stems φ regeneration φ resilient φ
i spread φ arise φ unfold φ unfurl φ extend
φ i am open φ i open up φ reaching φ touching φ fingertips φ branches φ
we are open φ we are one φ family φ connected
φ we spread φ arise φ unfold φ unfurl φ extend φ
JP Seabright reads Tendrils
This poem is created from text in the article The World’s Largest Organism Is Slowly Being Eaten By Deer, published in The Conversation on November 23rd 2021, describing the impact on the Pando Aspen Clone from the climate crisis and other ecological changes. It also takes as its inspiration the fact that “pando” is a slur in Spanish for homosexual, and seeks to reclaim that word for all its positive meanings from the original Latin, celebrating interconnectivity, resilience and longevity of the queer community.
JP Seabright (she/they) is a queer writer living in London. They have three pamphlets published: Fragments from Before the Fall: An Anthology in Post-Anthropocene Poetry by Beir Bua Press; the erotic memoir NO HOLDS BARRED by Lupercalia Press, and GenderFux, a collaborative poetry pamphlet, by Nine Pens Press. MACHINATIONS, a collaborative experimental work is now available from Trickhouse Press (2022). More info at https://jpseabright.com and via Twitter @errormessage.
Banner Art: October Moon, (color study, soft pastels) (c) 2021 by Moira J. Saucer.
Moira J. Saucer is a disabled poet, editor and visual artist living in the Alabama Wiregrass and the Managing Editor of Ice Floe Press. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies in the United States, the UK, and Canada, incl. Love and other Affinities, an anthology from Ice Floe Press (2022), Black Bough Poetry Freedom-Rapture anthology, Visual Verse, Fly on the Wall Press, Ice Floe Press, Floodlight Editions, and Fevers of the Mind Poets of 2020. Her chapbook Wiregrass and Other Poems (2022) is available from EthelZine, https://www.ethelzine.com/wiregrass. Twitter: @MJSEyesOpened.
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