A Sacred Huddle *
I walk through the green shade
looming overhead
tulip poplars and black locusts standing
solid, an armful of forever,
unencumbered
the fabric of the only world
to process darkness
and the lattice of self-doubt
no matter how you fold it
every thing
is breaking
every catalogue of grievances sings
with loud voices
in whatever opening it finds
words thick as new honey
how will I breathe in this day
and avoid the danger
of my feelings
the giant hungers
that hide in the pressure folds & glide
to write a history
for things that never happened
I’m trying to put my life in piles
small attachments and losses
I am terrified of small possibilities
swallowing each day as it comes
an unopened envelope
under a mulberry tree
in its quiet cafe of sky
lush loneliness
listening to insects
and the wind’s unrest
a seething wet morass of color
I am reminded
to see distance and silence
grace and angle
ways of knowing
that ancient thrill
the thick irrational shiver
a sliver of shimmer splits the world wide open
spilling its light as it goes
toward love
