Poetry
JUNE 2016
Common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris): Cross-section
Raised Bed
by BETH MCDERMOTT
Having witnessed
the sudden anonymity
of a mass-planting
of Rudbeckia hirta,
I think of the species
of mole with unformed
eyes that keeps a
larder of paralyzed
earthworms for sapped
days: instead of
digging, the Talpa
occidentalis pulls one
between its paws
for cleaning, feels
the pipeline empty.
Beth McDermott
Beth's poetry has appeared in journals such as Terrain.org, Watershed Review, Camus, and Southern Humanities Review. Her chapbook, How to Leave a Farmhouse, was released last fall from Porkbelly Press. She is the Poetry Editor for Kudzu House Quarterly and a visiting assistant professor of English in Joliet, IL.