Piker Press — Weekly Journal of Arts and Literature
April 27, 2026

Apex

Two lifetimes ago, Catherine performed her poetry in Madrid. Now her main jobs are to write and hang out with her family.

Apex

Then we crossed Beringia,
tracking mastodon with our teeth
and whittling its bones into arrows.

Now we brush desert from skulls,
bodies we hollowed, ribs where we hid
to keep our lineage alive.

And still to oar forward our survival
we hack meat off skeletons,
undressing animals down to their spirits.

The sand is full of oceans of bone,
now we dig it up like scavengers.






Article © Catherine Zickgraf. All rights reserved.
Published in the April 18, 2022 issue .
Image(s) are public domain.
More by Catherine Zickgraf → More poetry → Full issue →
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