every bone by d. ellis phelps

when the bear comes
carrying her dark body
& the moon has hidden
behind the sky

crouch close to the fire

when the sun’s face
turns white   and the elm
lays her golden offering down

do your digging
find the worms

each seed makes its sacrifice in solitude

every bone knows:       the underworld
tends its own

d.ellis phelps’ first full-length collection of poems, “what holds her,” a work of ecstatic prose-poetry is forthcoming from Main Street Rag (2019/20). Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Texas Poetry Calendar 2020; Enchantment of the Ordinary, The Larger Geometry and elsewhere.