Water Woman

by Karen Jones


When dammed,
divert to a side channel. 
When narrowed, rise,
reconfigure rigid borders. 

When displaced, belly up,
surround the obstacle,
meet yourself again
on the downstream side. 

Enter the fissures
of the earth. Abide
in dark spaces. Emerge
in unexpected places. 

When frozen, flow silent
under the ice. When dried,
rise in invisible mist, reform
to a thousand clouds, 

rain softly on your own
desiccated veins
until you overflow
to a wide and welling river. 

Offer your voluptuous curves
to the shore. Reflect the power
of the sun, chaining and unchaining
shimmering infinities of light.


* * * * *

Karen Jones is a teacher, poet, and life-long learner from Corvallis, Oregon.  Her poems have appeared in Willawaw Journal, Circle of Seasons, Cirque Press, and other publications.  Her chapbook Seasons of Earth and Sky (Finishing Line Press) was released in 2020.