Excerpt from Survived By

*this piece is best experienced on desktop

 

 

Blue, 1982

A robin’s egg sky arches over my young father. He’s got one big change in him, but I can’t see it as I watch him bend to pull soil and roots from mower blades.

I don’t know yet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes

The influence of John Berryman is everywhere in this piece. Also, Diana Khoi Nguyen’s Ghost Of inspired me to begin manipulating family photos, including blurring and cutting people out.

 

 

 

Sarah Bitter writes poetry and prose from the home she shares in Seattle with her partner, daughter, and dogs. Sarah has an MFA from the University of Washington. Her work has appeared in The Seventh Wave, River Mouth Review, and Slipstream.