Tender - Sarah Bates

QUICKENING, I READ ABOUT THE CLAM’S HEART

in the dream / the bears / are actual bears / the bears are big / and brown / the bears / are angry / i’m guessing the bears in the dream are grizzlies/because in the dream / I do not run / from the bears / in the dream / i know / that the bears are coming / for me / but in the dream / the bears stop / for anything / that has been lost / between my body / and the blue sky / this part is strange the bears / stopping for a tree / that has lost its leaves / the dark colored kidney / of a clam / its heart / in the dream I know / that the bears / are not actual bears / one of the effects / of pain / is we have to / reckon with the body