Where many branches meet...

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.