in the wetlands black-
eyed orange daisies
live for light needing

no human hand to rustle
nearby leaves nor tinted
hair draping black dress

of lilies within weeds
and leaves you plucked
a direction: north

and walked bulldozed
path to void of trees
where the wind stocked

moral inventory to forgive
you inside its shelter
measuring the days with

yardsticks staring up
to sky from hard earth
needles on a marionette

(originally published in The Sock Drawer, Fall 2021)