Out There

Again, in honor of April

being National Poetry Month

a poem that I found last April

and carried around

for awhile

as a "tailsman,"

I clutched its little poetic hand

with a sense of fake faith

and then let go

somewhere along the way...

forgetting where I put it.

Last week end it fell out

of a book I was researching

for an upcoming poetry workshop!

And I reread it and

low and behold...

the words were real!

The warmth dancing along my window sill.

A year later!

The wonder and power of poetry...

proven again!

Out There

Out there

you'll see it all.

The floating ends

will meet and mend,

and you will find yourself;

your fully formed,

though always changing,

self of selves.

Every clumsy backward look

will pay for itself.

Every tear you cried,

or wanted to cry,

will set your broken bones.

The rips in your heart

will no longer

need to be guarded

by steel girders,

banyan trees,

or even rice paper.

Not so much as a

dragonfly's wing

will you need

to cover the bludgeoned place,

to protect the private you

you love so much

and hope to save intact

from what has seemed years

of relentless pummeling.

Go and live and love

in peace, my friend,

for surely there is love

to enfold you,

and life to be feasted upon:

Love will be the more

you've wanted.

You will know it

when you see it.

You will love yourself

as no lover

has ever had the courage

to love;

and the warmth you've wanted

will line your pillowcases,

dance upon your windowsill,

and hide

at the ends of your socks...

awaiting your toes!

Deborah Mears

Photo by Ed Earley