Lauren Saxon
I’m going to turn into a blueberry
This poem is for my daughter, Felicity, who embodies her name to the fullest. Fostering her has been the most incredible part of my life—a true love of liberation and choice. In this poem, I did my best to see the world as she does: boundless and free. We should all try it sometime.
swears my seven-year-old / eight in a few months / standing certain and sure-
footed / at Randall’s Orchard / overalls & braids with rainbow beads / her quart
sized berry basket / teal / filling by the minute / emptying by the handful / and
Lauren / she continues / what if the whole world / was made / of blueberries /
for her / I resist reason / immerse in the impossible / welcome her wonder /
yes / love / imagine how gentle we would all have to be / our world /
constantly close to bursting / we would tiptoe / down blueberry roads / slide
gently / into our blueberry beds / with their blueberry blankets / fragrant & ripe
/ yes / love / it will happen later tonight / when the sun rises / we will all wake /
round / purple / sweet //
Lauren Saxon is a queer, Black poet and engineer living in Portland, ME. She loves her cat, her Subaru, and being chronically online. Lauren’s work is featured in Barrelhouse, The Offing, Across the Margin, Homology Lit, and more. Her debut chapbook, You’re My Favorite won the 2023 Maine Literary Award for Book of Poetry and is out now with Thirty West Publishing.
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