if I wandered

deep enough

into the woods of my heart

could I make peace with

the wild things that live there

if I brought my body to stillness

and forgot my skin in the silence

could they settle around me

in a circle of ancient acceptance

if I trusted my grief to quiet

her cubs in the moss-covered caves

and watched desire rest its wings

by the river’s edge

would I find that I could hold

the birds and beasts of my own becoming

the way the earth rocks me in her arms

This poem was written by Coco Mae.