by Denise Bossarte
The morning after the election
I opened the compost bin. The soldier fly pupa
that had attached themselves to every inch
of the lid and bed of the bin, mere days ago,
had vanished. Burrowed beneath the soil,
ready to arise when the weather turned right.
Only red wigglers moved with care
over a stalk of celery, a green aisle of lettuce.
I can’t explain why I felt at peace with this,
that what had to happen did.
Earth’s workers continued their bid,
breaking down the infrastructure
of watermelon crescents and cabbage planets.
The soil of a new plot formed.
Katie Kemple’s poems have appeared in Frontier, Ploughshares, and North American Review. She is the author of Big Man (Chestnut Review Chapbooks, 2025). More of her work can be found at katiekemplepoetry.com. Bsk: @katiekemple IG: @katiekemplepoet @kemplekatie
X: @kkemple TikTok @katiekemplepoetry Threads: @kemplekatie.
Denise Bossarte is an award-winning writer, photographer, and artist based in Texas, USA. When she’s not immersed in writing, she turns her lens to the world around her, exploring visual spaces with a keen eye for the unexpected. Her photography captures the beauty that emerges through happenstance.