The Shallows by Cynthia Anderson
Manipulation and design layout: Elizabeth Stark
Cynthia Anderson lives in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park. Her writing is inspired by the “old growth desert” around her home, by stories of ancient granite and bird song, and by her travels to other places. “The Shallows” describes Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona, where harmless black garter snakes are endangered because humans kill them out of fear. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Askew, Dark Matter, Crab Creek Review, Inlandia: A Literary Journey, Split Rock Review, Origami Poems Project, Bearing the Mask: Southwestern Persona Poems (Dos Gatos Press, 2016) and Nature and Regeneration (Contemporary Poetry Series, Corbel Stone Press, 2017). Cynthia is the author of seven collections, the most recent being Waking Life (Cholla Needles, 2017). She co-edited the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens. www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com
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I really love this. It made me feel as though I were there, experiencing the power of nature.
I like snakes (although there are none here in Ireland!) and I’m saddened to hear about the black garter snake is being exterminated through ignorance.
marion
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