Two Paths to the Cemetery on the Hill by Amy Alexander

Two paths to the cemetery on the hill,
one chewed to stones by rain and age,
one steep and smooth as raven’s bill.

I had to choose, so it goes, still,
flowers and undergrowth, a trail haunted by sage,
two paths to the cemetery on the hill.

Old dog by my side rushes to kill,
each rustle, her blood lust, an animal rage,
one steep and smooth as raven’s bill

would have been the wiser choice, will
not split to catch and break a carriage,
two paths to the cemetery on the hill,

one with stories, the other, new and still,
vapors, rotten things, this constant pilgrimage,
one steep and smooth as raven’s bill

was never my way, I want my fill
of indigo magic, and weather-wilted page,
two paths to the cemetery on the hill,
one steep and smooth as raven’s bill.

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Amy Alexander is a writer, poet and visual artist whose work has appeared (or is slated to appear) in Memoir Mixtapes, Anti-Heroin Chic, Rhythm & Bones, YANYR Anthology, Mansion Anthology, and Mojave He[art]. Author of Legend of the Kettle Daughter (Hedgehog Poetry Press, April 2019) and The House You Carry Inside You (Hedgehog Poetry Press, 2019) and Finding Betty Crocker (Naissance Press, 2011). Follow her on Twitter @Iriemom.