Before

Before the rain fell
the forest sighed a long exhale.
Mushrooms strained towards the light
as butterflies capered, oblivious.

Before the earth shook
the hawk slipped off to shelter.
Tectonics kissed in the dark
as people labored, oblivious.

Amanda Barusch

Amanda Barusch has worked as a janitor, exotic dancer, editor, and college professor. She lives in the American West, where she spends as much time as possible on dirt paths. She has an abiding disdain for boundaries and adores ambiguity. Amanda has published eight books of non-fiction, a few poems, and a growing number of short stories. Aging Angry is her first work of creative non-fiction. She uses magical realism to explore deep truths of the human experience in this rapidly changing world.

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Everyone is Singular

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Why Does the Dugong Cry?