Prayer for the Wildness

“Sebastian Trail” by Molly Phalan

For the step off the trail
into the boreal sponge,
the muskeg of your mind
where the dead mingle

with your memory,
like your boot trapped
in the bog. Prayer
for the squat shore pine,

a contortionist eking
out a living in sodden
space, its resin sealing
the words on your tongue.

Kersten Christianson is a raven-watching, moon-gazing Alaskan. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing (University of Alaska Anchorage), has authored two books of poetry - What Caught Raven’s Eye (Petroglyph Press, 2018) and Something Yet to Be Named (Aldrich Press, 2017) – and is the poetry editor of Alaska Women Speak.