it’s not the child
but the mother
flung into space
smacked by champagne
shame of relief
they want my tears
but I have flown
loose, untethered
after the geese
Beth Suter studied Environmental Science at U.C. Davis and has worked as a naturalist and teacher. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, her poems have appeared in Colorado Review, New American Writing, Barrow Street, DMQ Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, and others. Her debut chapbook Snake and Eggs was published by Finishing Line Press in 2022. You can find her at facebook.com/bethfsuter.