by Amanda McLeod
When I Go Camping with Billy le Fox
Iconic Great Basin guy,
of rock,
books,
my plan is to do you
cultural geographically first,
not missionary style per se,
more like an explorer mapping
desert’s desires,
pure nonfiction.
You will make me mountain, valley.
I’ll become horst and graben.
Then I’ll roll you over in circles
of sand, do it to you poetically—
Earth’s fire:
line by breath
breath by line
in out
in through—
stomata of sage.
You will plant me as lichen.
In bristlecone shadow
you
will
read
me.
Karla Linn Merrifield has 16 books to her credit. Her newest poetry collection, My Body the Guitar, was nominated for the 2022 National Book Award. She is a frequent contributor to The Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. Web site: https://www.karlalinnmerrifield.org/; blog at https://karlalinnmerrifeld.wordpress.com/; Tweet @LinnMerrifiel; https://www.facebook.com/karlalinn.merrifield.
Amanda McLeod writes and makes art on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country in Canberra, Australia. Her words and art can be found in many places both in print and online, including at Wild Roof Journal, Meniscus Literary Journal, and others. She’s been quietly working on a collection of hybrid essays about nature and connection in between visits to her favourite creeks and rivers. Find her on the socials @AmandaMWrites.