Water Table

Eliza Griswold

My earliest wish was not to exist, 

 to burst in the backyard 

 without violence, 

 no blood, no fleshy bits, 

 mute button pressed 

 alone behind the rectory 

 where no one would see me. 

This wasn't a plea to be found 

 or mourned for, but to be unborn 

 into the atmosphere. To hang 

 in the humid air, as ponds vent upward 

 from the overheated earth, 

 rise until they freeze 

 and crystallize, then drop 

 into the aquifer（蓄水层）.