returning

ribcage ruptures formed

this earth. this lake pulled

into taut hauntings, spooled

into sky once lilac-oxidized.

we, sailored. we anchored

to brick and bark; twins in

these twilights and darkenings.

likelihood of return loosely

based on: how many of our

four daughters survived; how

close the place of death was

to home. home was once

such a bluebird refuge for us.

Emily Wilson, born and raised in North Carolina, is currently a senior at Oberlin College, where she studies Creative Writing, Religious Studies, and Latin. She is a Bonner Scholar and serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Oberlin’s literary magazine, The Plum Creek Review. Her poetry has been featured in RHINO, is forthcoming in The Raleigh Review and ROAR, and has been awarded the 2012 Emma Howell Memorial Poetry Prize. Some of Emily’s favorite things include: tobacco fields, Stevie Nicks, and the color of mangoes.