by Sarah Soderborg
When I thought I could absorb their prayers I became a sponge.
I settled in among the Porifera, the pore bearers.
I squeezed lemons into my hair to make it blonder.
I sucked honeycomb with my high school sweetheart
and with every kiss on the forehead I swelled.
Now, I keep accepting drinks
until I’m saturated with warmth,
until there’s no such thing as being wrung out.
I hit the bottom of a cup and take a breath:
health and beauty, please,
forever and ever amen.
Author’s note: “A line is a moment, and I think each moment in a poem should reach completion. What completion means is often made apparent only in the poem, not before it. In this way, a complete moment must be aware of the poem as a whole. It reflects a knowledge of each other moment in the poem by doing its own unique work.”