{"id":2716,"date":"2014-12-19T03:52:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T03:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/?p=2716"},"modified":"2014-12-19T03:52:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T03:52:34","slug":"fossils-elaine-olund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/fossils-elaine-olund\/","title":{"rendered":"Fossils by Elaine Olund"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"elaine-philly<\/a><\/h1>\n

Fossils<\/h1>\n

by Elaine Olund<\/p>\n

Look at the ginkgo leaves,
\nscattered like footprints on the
\nwet sidewalk, shaped like duck\u2019s feet
\nrubber-ducky yellow, like childhood.
\nSometimes I can\u2019t remember things
\nsometimes I can\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n

My memories are fossilized deep
\nin the muddy layers of my brain\u2014
\nsome shake right out, easy as trilobites,
\nbut the ones I really want elude me,
\nCretaceous, older than ancient, formed in
\ndark pre-cataclysmic times.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t kill some things.
\nThey live on and on and on, sharp as a rock
\nin your shoe while you walk,
\nlike dinosaurs walked, over ginkgo leaves.
\nAfter the bombing of Hiroshima, six charred ginkgos remained,
\nrefusing to die\u2014some things just won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Still, some things can\u2019t be preserved or kept;
\nthe flowers the girls pressed long ago
\nin the M\u2019s of the unabridged dictionary
\nfall to powder at my touch\u2014
\nsome things are just too much\u2014
\nfall apart, too much.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Elaine Olund writes and creates visual art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has published poems and short stories in Bartleby Snopes, Turk’s Head Review, Black Denim Lit, and many print and online journals. She’s looking for a home for a really amazing young adult novel, set in 22nd Century dust-bowl Indiana, and working on a second novel, when not veering off into poetry. Find her at elaineolund.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elaine Olund writes and creates visual art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has published poems and short stories in Bartleby Snopes, Turk’s Head Review, Black Denim Lit, and many print and online journals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t