By Grace Smith 

mon river spirit

mon oh mon

the river’s on

an airplane

I’m so glad I thought

up a river sipping

diet soda on a spirit

flight.

Who you calling a line?
When I come up there
we’ll dip in bed for
a map.

come and take em

sure let’s make em submarines
to witness walleye
shimmy by heaped old time glass

mon river man

at the two fork source. I saw one source, a fork, from
railroad tracks! I had to wait
for a coal train to pass!
it was hot august 2020 i was sweating
the man on his back upon a big rock
his red egg belly pointed to the sun
he dove in
trailed his fingers in glints
come on in he said you’re welcome to join me
i am writing this on january 24 2023 instead of grading papers

mon river + chatgpt

everybody tell her
a good one everybody ask for
a detailed community plan
faraway people : how can we love the mon river from _______
can a human love a river ask
to put on the mollusks where
the water really ends let’s see
a show of every picture and representation set to compositions
every picture ever
every single song
get an goddam infographic of all that river’s living things
take off your clothes

monicure

do you like this color
how about
oh my god i’m bleeding
oh my god my nails are dissolving into little mew clouds help
no that’s the look it’s nail fog
oh
c’est beau

mon river wellness

mystical healing powers
of the monongahela river
we must market indigeneity for
her powers are cosmic rare
ancient exotic universal jungian
niche and miraculous like the statue
crying and or bleeding in ireland
here in northern west virginia
a week of clear skies =
magic cleansing waters!
get into it forgiveness
an app a festival the future
is psoriasis free the future is
anciently hygienic
past
oral
imagine
strolling downtown for a swim

mon laundry boat

what’s the beef?
sun, the rooftop
dj, sheets on the clothesline.

where is the chair

there used to be an office chair
on the lip of the bank
i loved passing by that chair
on the lip of the riverbank
down from the auto shop
or muay thai fitness gym

on the mon river it’s missing sisters day

every day misses sisters
but springlike, today
knows what’s about to climb out

Originally from Baltimore, MD, Grace Smith lived in Morgantown, West Virginia for three years while studying poetry at WVU, where she was a founding member of West Virginia Campus Workers. Her poetry has been published in Muzzle and Posit and is forthcoming in Puerto del Sol. Now she live in Puebla, Mexico.