Shift

Hiking with my father
I see a salamander.
Ochre and black I name

the hues, as the light changes
as my fingertips stretch
and reach a shadow

over it’s slippery back.
My voice caresses softly
like the way I touched your

baby cheeks look here.
Dark umber clings to my knees
like lichen, his hair tangles

in the tops of the trees.
A boot shifts. Splashes
in the ever-roaming shore.

And a lithe body
shrivels to shrubbery.

Artemisia Feral is a writer based in California. She has spent her whole life writing but only recently has she felt called to share her work with the world. Artemisia can be found on Instagram @ravena_wrote.