The shape of me
I hesitated -
unwashed, in sleep shorts
unpresentable to humankind.
But it is not with humankind
I wanted to be;
I needed earth-grown memory under the soles of my feet,
creatures appearing.
Like Mary Oliver said:
it is impossible to not want the wild -
so I went out dirty
to the blackberry bush clearing
with dandelions: solid and ghost,
dried lavender, ivy in the shadows
I imagine part of the Trinity
as a butterfly
cresting a little mound
blessing the things I found with my toes.
Why do people pave over their gardens with stone?
I leave the meadow with the shape of me
welcomed and folded into the uncut grass;
horizontal in the daylight,
it was sparkling.
unwashed, in sleep shorts
unpresentable to humankind.
But it is not with humankind
I wanted to be;
I needed earth-grown memory under the soles of my feet,
creatures appearing.
Like Mary Oliver said:
it is impossible to not want the wild -
so I went out dirty
to the blackberry bush clearing
with dandelions: solid and ghost,
dried lavender, ivy in the shadows
I imagine part of the Trinity
as a butterfly
cresting a little mound
blessing the things I found with my toes.
Why do people pave over their gardens with stone?
I leave the meadow with the shape of me
welcomed and folded into the uncut grass;
horizontal in the daylight,
it was sparkling.
LJ Ireton, 2024
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