"Restless" by Dallas Raquel Klein

Who’s to say?

If she could trace an intention

to its root, would it curve,

would it bend? 

She can’t see it in the moment, 

but splinters are waiting before she cuts 

into the bark. Pine forests grow 

while she sleeps. 4 o’clock

is the chopping block. 

Saw and sear down 

the mountainside.

And what if most days she seems fine?

The rings score

a story more telling.

Dallas Raquel Klein is a queer, Latin/x poet. She is from Texas and received her MFA in creative writing from Texas State University. She now lives on Whidbey Island and is a graduate student at the University of Washington in pursuance of a second masters degree in Library and Information Science. She works for the public library, grows and produces food, works with fiber, and believes in community building and communing with the land.