In my next life, let me be cotton rag paper. All fiber and fade-resistant.
Tear me. Wet me. Ink me. Choose me to announce your everything.
Find in me my grandmother’s house dresses missing belts and buckles, pockets and butterscotch.
Then trust me with stories debossed in ten-point pica deep enough to read in the dark.
I’ll carry the words you send then wish to unsend. The one that outlives your regret.
Find in me old rain and new rivers washing away the silt of this life.
Diane LeBlanc is a writer, teacher, and book artist with roots in Vermont, Wyoming, and Minnesota. Publications include The Feast Delayed (Terrapin Books, 2021), four poetry chapbooks, and numerous essays. Diane is a professor and writer in residence at St. Olaf College. Read more at www.dianeleblancwriter.com.
