Mélusine
     With a line from Maxine Kumin

I confess—     chest pressed      to knee pressed to earth—     my unholding 
I water what I cannot save      Great Man Syndrome      says      

I am king      to no kingdom     only my own      small ache     That greater men than me      
bled      like ice caps      covered      the earth     I am clean only      when I suffer 

Draining the water from slurry      to leave only      stone      I pushed my stone 
so god would know      Water aches      every place      it softens graves 

I am no      king I am      aching water     The world drifts      across my skin 
like light      through a window      pane All the great      men I’ve held      melt 

in my palms     My chest     an iceberg      my knee      an unsinkable ship 
Unhold the water      I cannot save      I melted stone      so god would weep
 
She weeps      and I am shattered ice     The bodies buried in me      anchor me 
to an earth I cannot      save      Be my Great Man      and I will be      your freshwater 

Be my slurry      and I will split open     A geode of glass     drained of light
All      I confess—     I’ve done nothing      Have not pushed      a stone into aching 

water tethered      to my chest      as dead bodies      tethered to burial
Have I not      like a great king      kneeled and let      my softness save me

Taylor Franson-Thiel is the author of Bone Valley Hymnal, forthcoming in 2025 from ELJ Editions. She is an editorial reader for Poetry Daily, the Assistant Poetry Editor for phoebe and the EIC of BRAWL. She can be found on Twitter @TaylorFranson and at taylorfranson-thiel.com