Over cracked asphalt, tetherball chains hang empty,
clang against poles, echo
like bells against desolate winter skies,
this broken earth.
There are no sounds of children.
Just wild bird calls and the wind
swirling untethered across the playground.
The kind of freedom we crave.
–
Margaret Anne Kean‘s debut chapbook collection, Cleaving the Clouds, was published in November 2023 by Kelsay Books. Her work has appeared in various journals, including EcoTheo Review, San Antonio Review, Rogue Agent Journal, Amethyst Review, and Tupelo Quarterly. She earned her B.A. from Scripps College and MFA from Antioch University/LA.