I woke up with the blues today,
no, that’s not quite true,
I woke up hungover
from a dream—I know—
you don’t want to hear it.
What I want is connection.
Outside, lilacs burst forth
in profusions of tiny florets.
A rufous hummingbird
darts in and out, but no
raucous gatherings at the feeder.
Beyond the sweep of green
around my home, the world
is falling apart. A poet I knew
younger than me, has passed.
My friend has a life shortening
condition. We write about grief,
which is sometimes all we can do.
There’s still a river here. I hear
it running, so full with melted snow
it can fool us into believing water
will still save us. Everything glows
from its internal light, flickers, dies.
I sit in my bathrobe contemplating
the day. Where will it go? How
will I know its gift when I see it?
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 6.
Subhaga Crystal Bacon (they/them) is a Queer elder living in rural Washington on unceded Methow land. They are the author of five collections of poetry including A Brief History of My Sex Life, forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Press in 2026, the Lambda Literary Award finalist, Transitory, from BOA Editions, 2023, and Surrender of Water in Hidden Places, Red Flag Poetry, 2023, re-released in an extended edition in the Summer of 2024.
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