I pledge allegiance to the

alligators who mosey, soak

the sun, laze about, who only

rise for tour guides dangling

chickens on sticks or tossing

marshmallows. To tiny racoon

hands who dip their food

in bayou water before they eat

dissolving mallows against

the clock. To nutrias who burrow

into the shirts of those

who hold them, orange-toothed

smiling, happy to be there.

To speckled turtles who plop

in the water when they see

somebody coming, ever introverts.

To egrets who eat crawfish,

like any Louisianian, whose

necks squiggle like nature’s

doodles. To the bald cypress,

all knees, all feather needles,

all heart, seeing thousands of

years of our best

and worst, wood eternal:

crying earth serenade.

~

Emily M Goldsmith (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, and Louisiana Creole poet originally from S. Louisiana. They recently successfully defended their Creative Writing doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern Mississippi. Their creative work can be found in Zaum, The Penn Review, La Creole Journal, Vagabond City Lit, Witch Craft Mag, and elsewhere. You can find them at @emily.mgoldsmith on Instagram, @emilymgoldsmith.bsky.social on Bluesky or at https://www.emilymgoldsmith.com/