Marsh
by Katy Z. Allen
standing on a bridge across a marsh with cattails dried out in late winter sunshine with redwing blackbirds trilling and many other dried leaves resting on the mud so very much mud where once water flowed or stood still or almost still but now is gone all because of beavers who changed their minds somewhere downstream and even though it’s out of sight the one standing on the bridge knows that their dam isn’t as it once was which is why the water drained away and now there’s just so much mud which is frankly not very enticing or beautiful but most certainly serves an important role in the ecosystem of which the one standing on the bridge is unaware but nevertheless spring will come and most certainly something new and green will grow up out of the mud and transform the mud-filled marsh into something quite beautiful if only the one standing on the bridge will have the patience and strength to return to encounter and experience the inevitable transformation
Katy Z. Allen is a lover of the more-than-human world, retired rabbi of an outdoor congregation, co-founder of a Jewish climate organization, eco-chaplain, and writer since the age of eight. Her poetry has appeared in New Verse News, The Jewish Poets Collective Journal and Art on the Trails chapbook, and is forthcoming at Bluebird Word. Her poetic book, A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text was published by Strong Voices Publishing.