a many pronged

bitterroot, each petal

 

one translucent

finger against

the dust

 

of dry shrublands

creviced riverbeds

 

how cleanly

the skin

of its root

peels back

 

to offer

everything

it has.

 

 

Elizabeth Smith has written poetry since the age of seven and, with the exception of one undergraduate class, has no formal writing program experience. A lawyer by training, and a writer by vocation, poetry has been a lifelong practice, often interrupted, always resumed. She has been a featured poet in Tigers Eye Journal, has one Pushcart nomination and was most recently awarded the New Jersey Poet’s Prize for 2022 for her poem "Callinectes Sapidus."