After Mt. St. Helen’s erupted, the first species to return was a ballooning spider.

Return looks like this.

Before I had sadness, words waited under my feet. I entered classrooms and professors poured them onto tables. I sorted them by colour and size and they told me I was skilled in finding patterns. I harvested words from spindly Texas shrubs. I washed my face in words every morning.

After Mt. St. Helen’s erupted, the first species they recorded was a ballo…