You are here.

Who are you?—
I asked, trembling.

Silence.

Who are you? I want to see you—
I asked, through tears.

A bright light.

Who are you? I want to feel you—
I begged in despair.

Only vastness.

I remembered the whisper:

move with the waves,
come and go,
trust,
let yourself...

I long to be free from freeways,
no-smile miles of disquieting drivenness,
lane-brain impatience, noise.

Heracleum maximum effloresce defiantly,
despite all this. Prove exception to my mind’s
narrow on-ramp of disquiet. Already, American
cow-parsnip’s lacy white umbels, twined purple
with Pacif...

“It says here that you’ve been experiencing panic attacks,” she said, eyes skimming my intake questionnaire like she was choosing from a menu. “Have you ever tried—”

I nodded before she could finish, already embarrassed.

I could not imagine that breathing in for five and releasing for te...

Over the River Ohio,
a kettle of vultures

stirs in circular flight,
a swirling halo

sewn by light.
They have taken vows

of silence, these plain-
robed monks

of the heavens.
Theirs an enviable

ascension—
with tonsured heads

bowed prayerfully
towards the ground.

We’d sit as quiet as clouds, chattering about this or that or about absolutely nothing at all, while making tinctures from medicinal plants, storing them in bottles, for people needing them:

Bee balm for sore throats and diarrhea;
feverfew cures fevers and chills; the outer husks
of black walnut to make an anti-inflammatory cure;
dandeli...