In Vivo
Believe that we bloom upon this stalk of time. —Muriel Rukeyser
I inhale
& petals waft,
punctual & bright,
to the ground
as if pulled
from their sturdy stems
to swim
amidst the wind currents
by my breath.
so much
of what we do now
drastically marks
the future.
*
Snap
& petals freeze
mid air,
vivid drips
of double hue
never to reach
the ground.
At least in art
we can choose
when to go
without fuss.
*
I gather rose petals
in every shade,
pockets bulge
full of fragrant bodies
Everything
is dead,
part & then whole
soused by the weight
of living saturated
Muscles atrophy
then blend
flesh/muscles/fat
become wax
bones still separate–
our stems intact.
The frame stays erect
though gravity,
we are taught,
brings everything
down.
*
In the kitchen,
I wash my hands
& then quietly
line the curve of
my blue bowl
with stolen petals,
cover the saturated hues
with almond oil
& walk toward the tv
to anoint your static swollen feet.
We talk of
medical bills &
home health aides
as I stroke your arches
& my head refuses to look up
past the cracked armrest
of your wheelchair
*
You snore
loudly
as I shut our door
& sit legs crossed
on the edge of
the dust covered
flower beds.
I rub red dirt
on my skin,
dump handfuls
in my mouth–
until I become
the earth herself
until I look up
& see a canopy of
breathing stars & planets
instead of intricate cogs & gears
until all my thoughts
become crackles–
the eternal shifting & settling
of the finite number
of sand grains on this rotating
rock & suddenly
I can breathe
once again.
One Clover, One Bee
A queen amongst worker bees
buzzing amongst apiaries,
scouting fields for pollen-heavy
clovers that haven’t fattened a calf
One bee, one clover
over & over
Celestial nectar clad noble,
locked in their petal covered realm,
wishing stingers could sprout anew
Their revery, their eloquence
birthing prairies from
dormant badlands
& budding cityscapes
One clover, one bee
over & over
Many think they love her
honey anointed lips, that
plump sweet sticky softness,
but it’s the plush pillowy hills of purple petals
and gorgeous green ground cover
that sparks an insatiable internal itch
in such a galore of buzzing breathing bodies
One clover, one bee
over & over
Shauna Osborn is an award winning Numunuu (Comanche)/German mestiza artist, researcher, and wordsmith. They have a BA from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA from New Mexico State University. Their debut poetry collection Arachnid Verve focuses on the acrobatic nature of Southwestern life and was a finalist for an Oklahoma Book Award. Shauna’s list of honors include an International Formal Poetry Award from Bacopa Literary Review, 2024 New Mexico Ekphrastic Poetry Award, a Crescendo Poetry Fellowship, and a National Poetry Award from the New York Public Library. Shauna is founder and current Executive Director of Puha Hubiya, an Indigenous nonprofit arts and education organization.