Summer

An etheree poem

The split trunk climbing tree yawns her open palm to hold lounging children and beach towels toes hang wrinkled and dripping lazy like afternoon lions — At what point do we start to forget the purpose of life is to be alive?

This poem is written in the ‘etheree’ style, a syllabic form beginning with a one-syllable line and incrementally increasing to the final line containing 10-syllables. To learn more about the etheree and guidelines to submit your own, check out Melissa Coffey’s prompt and beautiful example here on Sky Collection:

Vixen Lea is a mother to two small children and a number of animals, but first and foremost, she is a human struggling to hang on to joy and presence. Poetry helps her remember who she was before juice boxes and laundry, and playdates. She is in the process of assembling her first book of collected works, Alchemy, due out by the end of 2021. Her writing has appeared in Flying Island literary journal, The Manifest-Station, and can be found on her blog wakinguprazzledazzle.com.