Why did you put
those flowers in your hair?
Don’t you know
the stems would never grow?
The dust would never collect
in such a way
that little figurines of clay
would sit up,
out of protest,
and do a rain dance on the yellow page.
They spread your ashes
in the river water.
They released the catfish
back in the river water.
And the life-blood from the hook scar
mingled with the ashes,
in such a way,
that witnesses must testify
to your triumphant emergence from the sea.
Does the bloody water
justify your daisy wreath?
Ethan Plate is a sophomore at Lindenwood studying Creative Writing and Philosophy/Religion. He works as a tutor in the writing center, and when he gets some free time, he likes to spend it listening to and playing music and writing poetry. Ethan has liked poetry since his childhood and has been writing it devotedly for the past few years. The poetry he writes is usually religious-themed with a lot of apocalyptic imagery. He has been previously published at Arrow Rock.
Featured Art: Spring has Awaken by Cheyenne Burns
Arrow Rock Literary Journal 