Ankle-deep in still water, bark plump
and yielding to that dark mirror of
liquid - there is some shape here
I recognise.
Star-shaped moss surges to the rim
of this sinking place, leaves rest
curling upwards on the surface
and I am looking and looking at that
creature between the fallen things.
This is a place for collecting all that’s
forgotten, seeping and oxidising
and swallowed into the long steady
blackness, pine and standing water
scent, and all dissolving below.
I feel that kin’s reflection, blooming
on the water’s face like pollen dust,
its limbs unfolding with a long
creeping reach towards me,
towards my own searching body.
In this slick-mirror world we touch,
limb to limb, gesturing outwards in
a knotted language, watching over
this silver-plated sky suspended
between us.
LJ Furner
L.J. Furner's poetry explores the relationship between nature and queerness. Their poems have most recently appeared in Anter Velvet, BlueBird Anthology and Elements Anthology (Fawn Press). They hold an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature from Birkbeck, University of London.