Vertigo
by Joanne Merriam
She presses her going-numb shoulders
into the ground, its clammy mouth
chewing at her warmth. The binocs
chill a circle around her eyes.
An owl across the lake
shouts its solitude
and several crickets join in. The ground reels,
a child learning to walk. Above her,
the stars sing very faintly like telephone wires.
Copyright © 2008, Joanne Merriam
Image Credit: Daita Saru, some rights reserved
Joanne Merriam is a former Royal Astronomical Society of Canada member who now lives in New Hampshire. Her poetry has appeared recently in Strange Horizons, Asimov's and Stand Magazine. You can find her at joannemerriam.com.