We’re alike, each of us 
pulling ourselves from seed. 

We seek light, twisting 
to avoid obstruction. 

The more jagged, the more 
persistent we have been, 

our fractured fractals proof 
against indifference. 

After storms, those weaker 
nest in our breakage. 

Sounded by wind, we make 
a beautiful wail.

—Third Finalist, KYSO Flash The DavenTree Writing Challenge

[The DavenTree] drawing by poet Steve Davenport

Devon Balwit’s

most recent collection is entitled A Brief Way to Identify a Body (Ursus Americanus Press). Her individual poems can be found in The Cincinnati Review, Tampa Review, Fifth Wednesday (on-line), apt, Grist, and Rattle, among others. For more about her book and movie reviews, chapbooks, collections, and individual works, see her website at: https://pelapdx.wixsite.com/devonbalwitpoet