ELLEN AUSTIN-LI

At the Academy

Bathe in the open beyond the shallows—
if you can embrace ancient skin. I hustle
to cover my bare breasts when deer rustle
the understory. I am the frozen doe
in these woods, say I’m sorry to the stone 
when I stub my toe. Go mute when muscle
flexes in my presence. Yet, I’m lustful—
long for the other and more tomorrows. 
 
Above the muddy pond, I find a spring,
trace gurgles to a hidden waterfall,
suck chewed sassafras stems: Bless my body!
In this meadow, I go home. Each bird sings
alone, yet my brothers and sisters call. 
I’m a red brick house. You can’t consume me.  

Ellen Austin-Li’s 2025 debut collection, Incidental Pollen—a Trio Award finalist and Wisconsin Poetry Series semi-finalist—is the runner-up to Madville Publishing’s Arthur Smith Poetry Prize. Finishing Line Press published her chapbooks Firefly and Lockdown: Scenes From Early in the Pandemic. Ellen is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net-nominated poet whose work appears in many places, including SWIMM, Salamander, The Maine Review, Lily Poetry Review, and One Art. Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) has supported her work. Ellen holds an MFA in Poetry from the Solstice program. She curates Poetry Night at Sitwell’s in Cincinnati, where she lives. Find her here: https://ellenaustinli.me/