Kristin Gifford is a writer living in Minneapolis. She taught English for a decade in
public school and is working on her first collection of poetry.
Posts By This Author
Arikara Sunflowers After Roe
06-02-2023
A poem
Illustration by Rachel Joan Wallis
When I decapitated the sunflowers today, the birds had already
pecked them mostly bald. I sawed through those thick necks with
silver shears, squash leaning to cup falling petals and black seeds in her
green palms. I was cutthroat, ripping this food from the garden. I knew
how fierce and warlike the small wrens had become, and, sure enough,
there were the fearless nails in my scalp, clawing for my soul.