Desire passed through me So I became terrain
I rested on myself My roots extended
I mapped my veins The blood that scored me
Became the map I’d drawn With pen and ink and wash
I read my history there Armies that dragged their weight across
Languages that flowered and folded Buckwheat ripening and the sorrow songs
What came for me would come Was this the garden
Lee Sharkey is the author of Calendars of Fire (Tupelo 2013) and three other full-length poetry collections. She is the recipient of the Abraham Sutzkever Centennnial Translation Prize, Zone 3’s Rainmaker Award, and the Maine Arts Commission’s 2010 Fellowship in Literary Arts and is the co-editor of the Beloit Poetry Journal.