image from Education for All series by Guilherme Bergamini
A Brief History of Tomorrow
Rae Rozman
Her hands on the wheel-shaping, shaping— they say man came from clay and I wonder for the two hundred and fifty seventh time was it like this: a woman building up a spinning vase//I pick her wildflowers while she throws another piece, excusing my solitude with handfuls of lantana and tulips tied with scraps of lavender yarn: a necessary death I say and she smiles, arranging//She is thinking of the hospitals of the endless futuristic beeping, of store-bought flowers and plastic vases and a woman who could create life from clay//a necessary death they’ll say. Expected—
A half-finished vase drying on the wheel.
Rae Rozman is a queer poet and educator in Texas. She can be found on Instagram @mistress_of_mnemosyne sharing poems and book reviews.