We came up together,
alongside the brick deck
Papaw built before either
of us was born. We touched
leaves: broad & ungangly with
a primordial purpose, thick
with meaning, seeding our
bodies with wonder and fruit.
We grew bigger than anyone
expected, lived longer, bore
seed. We outgrew the deck
and the orchard and Mississippi
altogether. Took to the highway,
moved north toward a promise
nobody meant for us to keep.
Caitlin Johnson
Caitlin Annette Johnson was raised in the Mississippi Delta and currently lives in NYC. Her writing has appeared in NonBinary Review, Anodyne, Dunes Review, and Prairie Margins. She currently serves as a Production Editor for New American Press and Fiction Editor for Tendon Magazine. When not reading or writing, Johnson organizes readings, workshops, and repair fairs in her community while caring for a kid, a dog, and an improbable dynasty of pothos.