Natalie Marino

After the War

The other side
of violence
is a dark lake.

After the last
flame
quiets

and catfish
disappear,

the world
becomes
a blue bell jar.

After the war
even sorrow
recedes.

The switchgrass
is still,

the ground
without
stones.

Natalie Marino is a multiracial poet and practicing physician. Her work appears in Hayden Ferry’s Review, Little Patuxent Review, Pleiades, Salt Hill, wildness and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook Under Memories of Stars (Finishing Line Press, 2023). She lives in California. You can find her online at nataliemarino.com or on Instagram @natalie_marino.