At Forty, the Mountains Are More Green

Here the melting, there the glacier
already gone. All these years, I’ve watched
my body as if from a distance

nearly geologic: the comings and goings
of a thousand tiny fossils against my flesh.
Last night, beside my sleeping wife’s form

in the ageless glow of my phone,
I scrolled past the before and after
of butt implants, celebs who maybe did

or didn’t, and the pregnant model
who last week had the silicone removed
from her breasts. I’ll still have boobs,

she said, they’ll just be pure fat. Upstream,
they’re taking out the dam, diverting
the creek. This morning, I woke to the dull

scalpel of dozers. Soon they’ll loose the fish
from the chute and finally the bodies
within that body will be free.

Writer and editor Keetje Kuipers (pronounced Kay-tcha Ky-pers) is the author of three books of poems, all from BOA Editions. Her first book, Beautiful in the Mouth, was selected by Thomas Lux as the winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize. Named one of the top ten debut poetry books of 2010 by Poets & Writers, her first book also appeared in the top ten on the contemporary poetry bestseller list. Her second collection, The Keys to the Jail (2014), was a book club selection for The Rumpus, and her third book, All Its Charms (2019), was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and includes poems honored by publication in both The Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies.