REVISING PARADISE

[word chakra]

fills its cloth with water⎯
drinks
from the cup of stone, knows
anything gods we think
could know

[paradise chakra]

lives in helmets, drives
soldiers through
tunnels—stores extra rations
in pockets for later, when
we rebuild

[heart chakra]

pulses with light
carries
birds swiftly flapping
in many baskets

[tuning fork chakra]

turns your head toward
that not-knowing—
revising
your mouth entirely

[dust chakra]

spins embers to life, returns
to your hand
particles of memory: egrets
feeding on sand, on
sound

Laurie Sewall received an MFA in poetry from New England College and an MA in counseling psychology from Lesley University. Her poems can be found in ColoradoReview, Ploughshares, Columbia Journal, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Cimarron Review, and Minnesota Review, among other publications. She lives and teaches in Iowa.