When I beg Margo to come look at spinach on the stove and she sees me
I.
I call her upstairs, loud, urgent,
Stop everything, look at this
Earth right here, leaves right here,
in this pan, do you see this?
We live on a planet with green
like this. Alive, shining,
fresh, whole, deep — we have
this! Here! Every day!
Can you believe it? We exist here,
with these! Do you see?
II.
And I am unfazed by sharp hugs
around my waist, hard, like
I'm here, I see you.
Elbows jut out, face warm on my chest
she's reassuring me, still with me,
even though it's fleeting, feeling.
She shakes her head, ducks down,
sighs, exhales, knowing, expecting,
comes in under, circling greens, pauses, us,
sizzling, turned down, and still.
— Rachel Goldberg
Rachel's poem has been featured in the window of Bivouac as part of Ann Arbor's April Poet Tree Town program.