The Room of the River
After Anselm Kiefer
And so she sat in the room of the river
to quiet the conflict unfolding within her.
She had become a passage of blasted things,
her ribs, deconstructed feathers,
fasciae lined with silver distributaries of fern,
her heart, a still infant in a glass box.
She carried the grief of a crowd against a horizon,
a space carved out,
for destruction, or resurrection.
So she went to the room of the river,
to shed seeds, to be invisible.
She bathed in green waters,
framed by a dark comfort of forest,
became clear, liquefied, golden.
Lauren Thomas is a welsh writer based in Hertfordshire and has been published in various print and online publications including, Magma, The London Magazine, The New Welsh Review and Lighthouse. She has an MA in poetry writing from Newcastle University and The Poetry School London. Her pamphlet, Silver Hare Tales was published in 2021 by Blood Moon Poetry. She is the co-editor of new poetry journal, Black Iris.