Sara Moore Wagner

GIRL AS A DEER SHEDDING THE VELVET

I was born with bulbs 
protruding from my scalp, 
soft and pliable. These were my ideas
in the strictest sense, new 
and warm to the touch.
My first friend was a small 
tree, was a railroad spike, 
was the knife my father took 
to the base of every single thing
I wanted to keep, my body, 
my childhood: Uprooted. I was 
uprooted. And when I came
of age, all this soft
down, this soft 
tore open, petaled
off piece by piece, the red 
of me so sharp
and so bright, white 
bone—Here I am, still
peeling, almost hard-
headed and ready 
to hang. 

Sara Moore Wagner lives in West Chester, OH with her husband and three small children. She is the recipient of a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award, and the author of the chapbooks Tumbling After (forthcoming from Red Bird Chapbooks) and Hooked Through (2017). Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in many journals including Cimarron, Third Coast, Poet Lore, Waxwing, The Cincinnati Review, and Nimrod, among others. She has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart prize and Best of the Net. Find her at www.saramoorewagner.com.