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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Wintering Over” Down in the Dirt v214 (12/23) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing in the book On Stones and Bones the 2023 poetry & art collection anthology		get the 182 page poetry & artwork & photography collection anthology as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Instant Karma the Down in the Dirt September-December 2023 issues collection book		get the 422 page September-December 2023 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Not Like Her Flesh

Suzanne O’Connell

In hindsight, she realized
that soil is magic,
flesh of the inner earth
rampant with worms,
sticks, and pebbles.
Distinctly not like us,
not like our skin, that is,
its crust stretched taut
over deep, molten flows.

She squatted low,
blameless,
hands in soil,
plucking at this coverlet
as if the bedclothes
of a dying person,
weeded clean, as tidy
as the dead are combed.

Dirt was no longer dirt,
but the sacrament of her will.
At the altar of her restless hands,
she sat and worked, humming,
listening to songs of fire.

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