Drowning is Silent
They say drowning is a silent event
no thrashing limbs or open screams.
His wife swam out to sea
paddled through foam
she was a bit unhinged
they said. I can’t remember
if they rescued her
or if she swam back on her own
she later died in a plane crash
her husband and child waiting
for her at the airport
a small bouquet of Dahlias.
On our honeymoon we walked to the top
of the small island in the sea
the size of it emphasized
the curvature of the world
the full moon felt close
very close to us.
Years later, our daughter said
it is always the same moon,
I will see it in a movie and say: aha!
there is my moon again.
There is the feeling of water
against fingernails when one swims
and the sting of salt
in the nose.
I always like my hair
when I come out of the sea
gritty and tangled
a bit wild from the silent swim.
Salt Circles
I remember for us:
how the feared women
once drew circles of salt
in black dirt, around all that mattered.
You remind me:
salt is actually grit, a strong traction
it purifies and stings the open wound
it flavors meat.
But that is not what I am speaking of here.
My nod is to
how we have always
anointed with scented oil
boiled nourishment from roots
and chanted thin gold threads
of lullabies.
My question is how
is this gathering up
this encircling around
your chest and neck
everything everything you can
possibly get your arms around.
How is it seen
as anything
other than what it is:
protection.
Erin Ruzicka Trondson
Erin Ruzicka Trondson is the winner of the third annual Apprentice House Chapbook Competition for her manuscript Nesting. Her current manuscript was a finalist for the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize. Trondson’s poetry has also appeared in such journals as Midwest Review, So to Speak, Cold Mountain Review, Cheat River Review, About Place Journal, and Connections. She was a day fellow at Edenfred’s art residency program, part of the Terry Family Foundation in Madison. She holds a BA and MS from UW Madison. She lives in Madison, WI with her family.
Header image: “Perspective” by contributor Trevor Cunnington
Trevor Cunnington
Trevor Cunnington is a queer and neurodivergent writer/artist/educator who lives in Toronto. They are the poetry editor of KayTell Ink. Their work has appeared in Open Arts Forum, Poetry Super Highway, Last Leaves, Cerasus, Maisonneuve, and various anthologies. Additionally, they have work forthcoming in Inlandia, Radon, Word For/Word, The Orchards Poetry Review, and The Rivanna Review. He publishes an arts blog at www.theinvisibletruth.blogspot.com.
