Fire Season

at the lake
I choose bondage        by rhizomes

            the water lilies outspread         in fleshy tubers
so strong they tie
my hands        anchor me earthy                   
awash
in that laugh that’s unannounced        infectious
splash of sound
erupting          as a bell in my mouth
hysterics
blooming from exhaustion    
as rain refuses
the city            again

the mountains sick in smoke
and us              blood-thirsty as mosquitos        
       
blindfolded     among the ditch lilies
invasive and   
springing to life in cackles    
           flames
snaking the shore

following us                           
out of every body of water

Alyx Chandler (she/her) is a writer from the South who received her MFA in poetry at the University of Montana, where she taught composition and poetry. She is a publicist for Poetry Northwest, a reader for Electric Literature and former poetry editor for CutBank. Her poetry can be found or is forthcoming in Cordella Magazine, Greensboro Review, SWWIM, Anatolios Magazine, Sweet Tree Review and elsewhere. Learn more at alyxchandler.com.

Published June 15 2022