ancestral

by Nina Richard

The wind whistles in patchwork.

This storm is a quilt

Stitched from my grandmother’s patterns. 

Thunder before lightning, rain before snow, 

I am a part of this earthen ritual. 

Bathed in sunlight 

On this journey to the tip of the sky

I only dip down into the sea. 

East to west. 

I move clockwise, 

Studying the clouds’ formless figures, 

So I may discover them like constellations. 

Stories told a thousand years ago

I engraved on my mother’s headstone.

Nina Richard is a queer, POC graduate student, and a writer. Living in Knoxville, Tennessee, Nina spends nights working on her craft so in the day she can take her beloved naps. Nina has a publication in orange juice and upcoming publications in Working Title and Rogue Agent.