Livia Meneghin
Where many Branches meet...
...I stand still
long enough to see sunflowers turn
or feel a goddess of Minnewanka
keeping our canoe afloat,
her hand disguised as a graceful wave
...the world widens,
waking my wonder to witness every
clark I cannot see at first, grizzly hidden
in the wood, and drop of glassy glacial water
running to three faraway oceans
...we—women
comfortable being naked around each other,
with hair that takes an hour to wash
and dirt on our legs that takes even longer—
talk politics over poutine and finish it all
...sometimes a turtle lingers
as evergreen as the trees around her;
she climbs to Agnes slowly, speaks softly
about the inside of her shell,
and listens for the branches to crack
...snowflakes keep
each other on the forest floor.
Where many branches meet, I see
every color in the eye of a bison
as she turns towards me like I am the sun.