Overkill

the ice shelf / online / I mean I have three kids already

the pleasure / walking up a hill / breathless

sea level / or to holler down from the top of the stairs / to holler

we can take a sibling pair / or maybe even three / depending

my stupid new puffball haircut / all the foster blogs / at night

their chore charts / these hours / hitsville tennessee!

says the dad / in the batting cage / every single time

the ice in rivers / now / the parts we couldn’t see

so they kept the kids out of school / for five weeks / rather than reenroll

I kept interrupting / what part of myself am I / but even then who

afternoon bathed in singing / because this year the migratory ones / have stayed

a thing of beauty for / here is where the child could sleep / or possibly

is the curriculum / going to be / a problem

the system relies / on the foster moms with Jesus / because they don’t quit

things are looking fine / and then there is a darkness / you know nothing of

the system / is as vast as God / the system

moves through us / tapping / tapping

Megan Snyder-Camp is the author of three books of poetry, including Wintering (Tupelo, 2016) and The Gunnywolf (Bear Star, 2016). She is the recipient of grants and fellowships from Bread Loaf, 4Culture Foundation, Djerassi, and the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. She lives in Seattle.