SWWIM sustains and celebrates women poets by connecting creatives across generations and by curating a living archive of contemporary poetry, while solidifying Miami as a nexus for the literary arts.

Week 27: Cauliflower

You worry about flight.
How your body will take
to air with so much
water, so many
growing bones.

She pushes against
the seat belt & you
haven't slept
for days, too many
nights celebrating

your own birth
to concern yourself
with hers, so you fall
asleep, lulled by hum,
metal on wind, her wings

practicing flight
inside you. "Ma’am,
are you Okay? Can you
hear me??" You wake
in panic. What

have you let
your body do? But, no,
not you. Across the aisle,
they cannot wake a woman
twice your age. How many

bones has she already
grown? How many flights
inside? And now, her hands,
her mouth refuse
to move. They get a nod

at first and then
a name. They find
a nurse among the passengers.
They lay the woman
on the floor, bring down

her blood, pressure cuff
wrapped around her foot.
You realize you've had to pee
for hours, but refuse
to walk across her body.

"Don't cry," they tell her,
but she keeps apologizing.
"Nothing to be sorry ‘bout,
you’re gonna make yourself
feel worse," the nurse reminds,

"In and out, remember,
in and out." You listen too
and breathe. It's quiet now
inside you. No pushing
to get out. Your body

yours while she is held
and lifted back
into her seat, and you
are now just minutes
from the earth, in and out,

how breathing is a lot
like water, in and out, a lot
like soil, the body’s
predetermined movements,
returning always where

you came. Ignited
early morning clouds
surround and though
you are not one to pray,
you do, ask god

to bring her
safely down, in
and out, as soon
as metal touches
ground, in and out,

your daughter’s boning wings
push in and out
your ribcage.


Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach emigrated from Ukraine at age six. She is author of three collections, The Many Names for Mother, Don’t Touch the Bones, and 40 WEEKS (YesYes Books, 2023). Her poems have appear in POETRY, Ploughshares, and APR. She holds an MFA from University of Oregon and a Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania. She is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Hendrix College and lives with her family in Little Rock, AR.

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