by John Dorroh
Give Me One Good Reason
The reason I became a mountain is obvious. Just look
in my eyes. Those granite flecks? I’m genetically
coded. Scientists from Europe and the Mideast
surveyed my body, mapped the tectonic plates
of my scapulae and pelvis. They charted my topography
like I were a Rocky Mountain foothill. A man named Mikko
wanted to hike all over me if I’d give him a chance.
Then a Swedish geologist told me some people can turn
into marble while others might crumble into loam,
the kind rockface only dream of. That’s why I live
with a trail near a meadow of fireweed and harebell.
Connie Wasem Scott is the author of the full-length collection The Open Hand of Sky (Finishing Line Press 2022), and the chapbook Predictable as Fire (Moonstone 2021). Her poems appear in a variety of literary reviews, including Citron Review, Night Music Journal, The Shore, and Streetlight. She lives with her Aussie husband and Belgian Malinois surrounded by maples and pines in Spokane, WA. Visit her work and posts at conniewasemscott.com https://www.facebook.com/connie.wasem https://www.instagram.com/conniewasemscott
John Dorroh travels whenever he can. He often ends up in people’s kitchens exchanging culinary secrets and tall tales. “Through food there is communion,” he says. Six of his poems were nominated for Best of the Net. Hundreds of others appeared in fine journals such as Kissing Dynamite, River Heron, Feral, Burningword, and North Dakota Quarterly. He once was awarded Editor’s Choice Award from a Midwest journal with a monetary prize large enough for two sushi dinners.