I Never Want to Leave
Amanda Hartzell 

i.

Not everything is human.
Not everything is a healing
sea or temple, sworn by new
ghosts to be. I never want to leave 

this season. Who actually believes
blood and bone is how to experience
the world? This morning I found

a dead rabbit in the shed half
eaten by crows full of opals.

ii.

Who actually believes the world
is how to experience blood and bone?

I never want to leave this human.
Not every season heals the rabbit
and finds dead crows in the temple.

Morning ghosts swear by
opals and swim out as far
as the salt takes them.
Who actually believes? The world.

iii.

The temple swears 
you will experience ghosts.
Not everything is healing
dead rabbits and crows.

But this morning I found
a shed full of opals,
one for each broken bone.

Who actually wants to leave
when the ghosts are so good?

If blood comes for the world, swim out.

Amanda Hartzell holds an MFA from Emerson College in Boston. Her writing has appeared in New Letters, The Knicknackery, West Trade Review, and Carve Magazine, among others. Originally from eastern PA, she now lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and their dog.