i.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ii.
 
the saltwater
snail was not
a snail but
 
 
 
 
 
 
father, all
filled with
gentleness like
 
 
 
 
 
 
the Earth itself
on our porch he
said I wasn’t the
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
iii.
 
 
 
 
a boy who
fell in love with
me because of
 
 
 
 
 
 
the way water
bends around
what it cannot
 
 
 
 
 
 
sea fell up to me
lost oxygen had
to escape the
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain.
 
 
 
 
 
iv.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
my newest grief:
the way I spoke
about a dead
 
 
 
 
 
 
love and what
it cannot
destroy: the
 
 
 
 
 
 
way I keep my
heart less
tender than a
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
mountain.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Caleb Parker is a writer and musician from Texas. He is also an MFA candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His band released their debut EP Why Wait Till ’55 We Might Not Even Be Alive in 2020. They are at work on an album.