Unshakable

Over ragged, unshakable peaks

Deep water she rallies into chaos

Fleeting flowers wobble and wave

Their hellos that will soon be goodbyes —

I stretch open my arms

As the dragonfly

Praying for total transformation

For her mercy

To whisk away in a sweeping gust

My love for you —

But it is unshakable

As the mountains

Stardust

Ants, unlimited and active,

Are shooting stars

On a moonless night

Darting swiftly across the vast expanse

Without end or rest.

Eagles, attacked by blue jays,

Shake them by ascending

Thermal, hypoxic air

Between this spinning rock

And infinite dark.

I am the ant,

Digging and hauling

Building and seeking

Unaware of my cosmic counterpart.

I am the eagle,

At lower altitudes

Plagued by pecking and scratching

Transmitted through my psyche.

To know my stardust

And to meet it there —

Delivers me from these daggers

I grasp in fearful hands.

Thousands of Petals

Delicate pink blossoms float

With creek bubbles

Passing beneath a stone arch bridge

Like fairies

Grazing between willow’s soft fingers

Lily pads and lotus flowers catch them downstream

I sit on the grass amongst thousands of petals

Holding open a book I’m meaning to read

Words on the page call to me gently

But all I can think of

Is you

Sing

Covered in thick metallic plates

A shield against feeling

Anything —

Not even the persistent howl

For agency

For desires you decided had to die —

Knowing that cry within myself

I sensed it

Or maybe I saw it in an amulet

When I brought you to natural, warm waters

Sheltered between lilacs and willows

We submerged our bodies in the crystal reverie

And I called that voice forward

Breathing life into dormant dreams

Now,

Will you put down your arms

And listen to him sing?

Fox Medicine

In still air and changing light

While giving horses alfalfa

A snapping twig turned my eyes to

Feminine power, shape-shifting creativity

Revealing herself

From the forest across dried grass

Entering the corral through its broken-open gate

In high black boots and sleek red jacket

Bold, light steps obscured her behind a berm

I nervously circled behind the stalls

And waited beneath oaks for her next move

Cresting the threshold to follow my path

She reappeared

And sat facing me in the warmth before twilight

Like she arranged our appointment

We gazed at each other for so many breaths that

A new world opened

And she guided me

Into the space between realms

(Cover art by Hannah Willow @hannahwillow.artist)