It would be easy to put a plant on the kitchen windowsill and watch it bend toward sunshine, or sit down along this coast to see marsh grass strain inland away from saltwater seeping into our soil, but I’m not sure we have that kind of time, so just close your eyes and think about holding a partner in bed through a cold night; now imagine how your arms would stretch into that empty space for years after you’ve been left alone.
Swamp Thing Illustrates the Concept of Tropism
Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Rejection Letters, Pidgeonholes, The Shore, Cotton Xenomorph, Okay Donkey, EcoTheo, and other journals. His most recent collection is Color All Maps New (Mercer University Press, 2021). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.