Hannah V. Warren
2022 Greg Grummer Poetry Prize First Runner Up
when we find a river
we rejoice
as if we’ve never
seen so much water before
as if we weren’t birthed
again & again
in meticulous baptismal fonts
sunned ice on the riverbank
tiny punch optics
too swift to name this plaque
this gnarled root
so far from everything
we put leaves in our mouths
whole trees in our mouths
waiting for bloom
these woods are a danger
slick of mud & moss
small trees fall at our feet
we don’t want to be
planted here
bone-colored seeds
growing teeth
Hannah V. Warren
is a Fulbright scholar and a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia where she studies poetry and speculative narratives. Her writing and research interests focus on monstrous aesthetics, post/apocalypse literature, and representations of alterity. She is the author of two chapbooks: Southern Gothic Corpse Machine from Carrion Bloom Books (2022) and [re]construction of the necromancer from Sundress Publications (2020). Her works have appeared in Gulf Coast, Passages North, Crazyhorse, THRUSH, and Fairy Tale Review, among others.