Dagne Forrest

Uncertain, a.k.a. Poem Beginning with a Line by Sylvia Plath

The night is only a sort of carbon paper,
shouldered like the dark mantle of water
from a recent dream of a lake that I crossed
with you and the dog with a backwards stroke,
taking in all I was leaving as I was leaving,
my misgiving much too large for the whole
of the night sky to hold, its ridiculous bowl
full of distant markers for things I fear losing.

Slipping under the water for a moment or more
was like blackout, the sounds of our past
waterfalling in my ears until I emerged
on the further shore, no memory of crossing
all that water, yet all that water was all I had,
and all we had between us. No destination
known, yet feeling both nowhere near
and nearly there, the dark surface glinting
with reminders -- this has all been done before.

Dagne Forrest's poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in journals in the US, Canada, and the UK. In 2021 she was included in Canada’s Poem in Your Pocket campaign. Her work has appeared in december magazine, Rust + Moth, Lake Effect, SWWIM Every Day, Prism International, Whale Road Review, The New Quarterly, On the Seawall, and elsewhere. Her first chapbook will be published by Baseline Press in 2025. She belongs to Painted Bride Quarterly's senior editorial and podcast teams.