I believe everything lasts
longer in the cold, though
I’ve heard many of the oldest
people have survived in the tropics
or some awful flat in Alabama, Iowa or Pennsylvania
surviving
on soda and Marlboro’s, maybe
I made that bit up
I used to tell myself
my lungs would recover
but now I’m not sure
I care or it matters
more than for clickbait.
what’s more
is wondering
whether I’ll live beyond
the next election, if I have time
to tell my son I’ll come
for him past policemen
holding other parents
I’ll get through, I’ll find you
what’s more
is more
and more
years waiting
for a sea gull
far from sea flying
above the moon rise
over Michigan
and here
I am
howling
in the same schoolyard
I slept in.
By Emily MacGriff
Biography
Emily’s work pulls largely from her experience working on expedition vessels as a marine biologist/wilderness guide in the polar regions, South Pacific and British Isles. She is mostly retired from shipboard work and focused on navigating life as a woman, artist and mother. Detroit has been her base since receiving an MFAW from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2022.