qarrtsiluni

by Marilyn L. Taylor

You are the anti-fetus,
a hungry skinless whelp

feeding on the stuff of life,
the rising sap, the savory—

ravenous, you crave
what can never be enough.

When you come
we arm ourselves

we slash and burn
to stop you from planting

your pernicious taproot
in such fragile sod.

But ours is a primitive
weaponry, no match

for you who are so hard
to do away with, you

who fasten on
and won’t let go.

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Marilyn L. Taylor’s award-winning poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Poetry, The American Scholar, Measure, Iris, and The Formalist. Her sixth and latest collection, Going Wrong, was published by Parallel Press in July of 2009. She is a Contributing Editor for The Writer magazine, where her articles on poetic craft appear bimonthly. Marilyn is also serving as Poet Laureate of Wisconsin for 2009 and 2010, and is happy to report that she’s enjoying every minute of it. For more about Marilyn and her poetry, please visit her website.