Family Court

I listened to the spiderwort’s purple testimony
and heard the fat rattler present its evidence,
also the subpoenaed catalpa.
The cane, viburnum, & holly trees
all were cross-examined, even
the gleaming flecks of mica, the Usnea,
the hemlock rot. And still I felt held.
So much theatre, the more false the passion
the more passionate the delivery.
So much leafquiver, storms building
from the southwest. And when the judge ruled
that I’d lost custody of myself, still
I felt held, and stood
and entered a place where being
alive was coming to life.