POETRY FEATURE: “Garden of Earthly Frights” by Julietta Bekker

Am I no more than a bloomed fever
hours unchecked,
a wilted promise, small as petals
on a child’s rain walk,
an offhand comment she memorized
and will wear like a garland around her neck?
Am I dressed in a dream of sufficiency, or
naked as the day she was born,
a bouquet of fresh nerves arranged
in the hospital room?
A ghost at the table holds my glass and I
drink the whole doubt.

Julietta Bekker (she/they) is a writer, educator and illustrator who lives with her husband and child in Portland, Oregon. Her poetry has been published by Pile Press, Bitter Melon Review, 7th-Circle Pyrite, Seedlings and Querencia Press, and is forthcoming from Flat Ink Magazine, Gather, and Oyster River Pages. Her work incorporates elements of the natural world to explore political and societal themes through the lens of a queer parent. Her illustrations can be found on her website: miepart.com .