Karla
Linn Merrifield, holds an M.A. in
Creative Writing from
SUNY
College
at
Brockport. Her poetry has
appeared in Earth’s Daughters, Negative
Capability, Blueline,
Paper Street
Press, Boatman’s Quarterly Review, and
Mediphors, and the anthologies 2004
Sacred Stones and Doorways:
Families, Friends and Survivors of September 11th Reflect on
Living with Loss. Her new book, Midst,
was published by Foothills Publishing last September.
Karla Linn Merrifield
Manna
I cannot dream a feast
without the river,
its forks & catfish,
its shores & steam
rising on cool summer mornings.
No meat, nothing sweet & green,
no surprise of wild raspberries
can nourish me like swift currents
do or quiet shallows, all with soft edges.
I am sustained going after the bones
to the marrow, tasting time slowly
with a river.