rise, fall

by Lydia Rae Bush

nothing left to deny
no one left to defy

nowhere left to fight

when you asked me to stop pushing you
so I pushed myself away

from the shore

everywhere else to see
only myself to be

everyone else to free

when the wind and water asked me
for my name and nothing more

Lydia Rae Bush (she/her) is a poet exploring themes of embodiment and social-emotional development. Her work is Best of the Net nominated, and includes Free Bleeding (dogleech books, ’25), Keeper, Seeker, Dragon of the Sea (Bottlecap Press, ’25), and All the Little Church Girls’ Paper Dolls (fifth wheel press, ’26).