“and all rain is holy water” she says three raccoons came to the bird feeder this morning before she had her first cup of hibiscus tea before it started raining a woman was taken off a TriMet bus yesterday by ICE on her way to work, she was late she is in the detention center in Tacoma her children in custody in Portland it is raining between them the fog rises from the Columbia River a Great Blue Heron lifts her wings rises along the mud flats her family in Oaxaca, Otavalo her family in Rose City Park her family in detention her family in deportation proceedings. She fingers the rosary in her pocket Our Lady of Guadalupe Rosewood prayers “I will never forget you” she says to her children, niños segregated by fear immigration regulations she cannot see the clouds behind the wall the gray edges of sorrow remembers the flight feathers of the heron the silver chain of the rosary rosewood, rose water the deer eat the wild roses in the backyard a doe, two fawns, black-tailed she will be black-listed is black listed, dreams of the three sisters black beans, corn, delicata candy stripe squash. Her daughter has roses on her rain boots, splashes in puddles, sings the alphabet song in English, in Spanish, waiting for the no. 2 bus dreaming, she walks through the waters of the Rio Grande again raccoons gather at the river “and all rain is holy water” she says.
Gwendolyn Morgan (she/her) is a Pacific Northwest poet, hospice/animal chaplain and artist. Flight Feathers, her fourth book of poetry (Wayfarer Books), found its filoplumes at Centrum Artist Residency and is a Nautilus Gold Winner in lyric prose and hybrid works. She served as Clark County Poet Laureate 2018-2020. Gwendolyn and her spouse Judy infuse their poetry and music with elements from the natural world. As a queer multiracial family in a multispecies watershed, they are committed to hospitality and welcome for all.
