Impressionable Age
Our clan's picnic lunch wrapped in Wonder Bread
the ham sandwiches she spread, Granpa gifted
everything to the Wintu children
Mom says the memory is suspect
baby in backseat bassinet
my inaugural family vacation
I say it is indelible
even an infant can perceive
values becoming visible
Dad's Big Breakfast
It begins raw
offering of appeasement
sausage, bacon, ham
cheese, eggs, hash
picnic table cleared of new snow
cooking on a Coleman stove
wearing gloves, his black down vest
outside our family tent
June in Medicine Bow
his idea of vacation
To Adapt is Human
My buddy dives to my side
concerned I am not breathing
beginners do that sometimes
unconsciously distrust their training
I learned to breathe underwater
in the clear of a local Y pool
an adaptation tested
in a gravel pit west of town
sinking to a kneel
slipping off the tank
sun a winter reflection
so far from my murky depth
I’m certified to be here
hovering over bleached coral reefs
whitened by distress whenever
oxygen supplies deteriorate
My breath comes in sips
my breath goes in flows
with a distance swimmer’s capacity
to subsist within inhospitable
pressed by atmospheres
I paused at intervals
pressured per square inch
I paused to vent excess
On land, innovation reassures it can cure all
I am not holding my breath
LA is a financial analyst at the University of Iowa. Before that, she was a seminary professor. Prior to that, she was a pastor. She credits the Free Generative Writing Workshops, the Midwest Writing Center, and workshops offered through Iowa City Poetry with her development as a poet. Her poetry recently appeared in Literary Forest Magazine, Feral Journal, and Skyway Journal. To give back to the writing community, she organizes a writers open mic at the public library (or via Zoom during pandemics) and serves on the advisory council of Iowa City Poetry. She is the author of the chapbook The Length of a Clenched Fist (Finishing Line Press) and blogs at http://lafelleman.blogspot.com.
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