Arboresque

poetry

Jun 20

By Stephanie Kirby

Each birth brings the body closer to death: a birthing body splits like rot, equal in burden to falling trees. Its weight: almost leafless. There is nothing left except a tree in decline,

housing life. This anatomy is not so different: what’s left

but to yield

a canopy, unfold

a new body in green.

**This story originally appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 19. Support local booksellers and independent publishers by ordering a print copy of the magazine**.

Photo by Matthew Smith

poetryissue 19

Stonecoast Review

Arboresque

By Stephanie Kirby

This story originally appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 19. Support local booksellers and independent publishers by ordering a print copy of the magazine.

Without Metaphor

After Reading Patricia Smith’s Top Tips: Ten Things About Poetry

the stonecoast review

**This story originally appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 19. Support local booksellers and independent publishers by ordering a print copy of the magazine**.