Jennifer Lothrigel is a poet and artist residing in the San Francisco Bay area. She has just published her first chapbook through Liquid Light Press, titled ‘Pneuma’. Her work has also been published in Arcturus, Deracine, Rag Queen Periodical, Poetry Quarterly, NILVX and elsewhere.

Ripple Effect

A text from my mom says,
“I’m watching an interesting movie…
‘An interview with God,’
kind of slow but I feel like it’s going to have a message.”

The first headline I saw on my phone in the morning was,
“Scientists say the ocean is running out of breath.”

I took my 4 year old niece to the riverbed. She asked why
it looked like a snake.
I said “the ripples cause that pattern.”
She said “What’s a ripple?”

Ripple: A small wave or series of waves on the
surface of water.

I went to the beach to do a ritual with my friends.
We spoke our prayers aloud to the ocean,
then offered milk and honey to the ocean spirits.
We watched the shore drink our prayers.

At the airport on my way home,
I cried with a stranger
who was on her way to Oakland
for her last visitation
with her twin
one year old grandchildren
because they were being adopted.
She read me the letter they will
receive from her
when they are 18 years old.