The Wilderness of Poetry (Won a place in Gertrudes Writing Room annual 2020 chapbook contest)

In the wilderness of poetry

I’m wondering if you can envision

what I ascertain?

Readers are so subjective

I search for truth, beauty and

courage in life

I grasp for inclusion

I am wild, free, alone

creating a moment

of belonging

Do you even see the forest for the trees?

A dangerous place

this wilderness

damp, earthy

vulnerable poetry

How will you even see me with closed eyes?

My breath like a slow fog expels

I smell the pines in the forest

standing firm, grounded, expansive

limbs spread upward in worship

I belong here

My pen is my voice

like the smell of the pines

It cries out to be noticed

Fragrant words seducing you closer

vowels lighting the narrow path

to the truth, beauty and courage of the forest

Standing firm, I succumb to the wilderness

within me

anticipating true belonging.