to become
a free verse poem for Crucible: the stone womb of elderhood
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The transformation that follows is for sure, in some ways about shape-shifting: about taking on new forms, remembering that we are two-legged animals, learning a new way of being in the world, a new tuning-in to the rhythms and seasons of this planet. Only then can we truly become creatures of this Earth; only then can we begin to feel a sense of belonging to it. — Sharon Blackie, Hagitude
for Earth
when word becomes mushroom
language a tree
mind coral reef
when sentence becomes river
longing an ocean
wonder bee
when paragraph becomes sweetgrass
opinion a petal
desire wind
when story becomes ecosystem
heart an elephant
conflict eggshell
when book becomes earth
pen an eel
ego nest
there will be a literature
of restoration
This poem is the twenty-second in a series titled, Crucible: the stone womb of elderhood, a poetic collaboration for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) with Samantha Wallen and Michelle Puckett.
To read the previous poem click HERE. To read the next poem in the series click HERE
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Samantha Wallen, MFA is a poet, writer, & writing guide who offers writing circles, workshops, private mentoring, and retreats for writers & want-to-be writers. Her work seeks to restore the soul of our world, and to render the complexity and fullness of our situations without easy judgment.
