Guided Micro Relaxation:
~~~
be as tiny as you are
be as tiny as you are,
the world is big enough.
you don’t have to make your mark
on everything.
the wind does that,
the water does that,
the movement of all things does that.
you can be small—
enjoy it.
you can tuck yourself into the ear of a leaf falling
gently to earth.
you can lay down in the fold
of some bark being slowly
chewed apart to rest.
instead of the mountain you could be
standing at her feet,
brilliantly,
humanly
dumb with awe
~~~
letter to myself, in winter
take the day off:
lay on the floor. feel
your skull, a taut balloon,
stretch with the pressure
of hard, flat wood.
feel your leg bones
hold their breath
with the possibility
of something new—not giving
into ground, and also
not rising—perched
mid-air, and waiting
for direction, and give them none
but your blessing: body may you be
just as you are. i have no words
for your becoming,
i do not know the notes
to your song.
send a few wordless sounds
into the caves and wetlands of you,
so they know you’re there, then listen.
listen to them fill and empty
with the echo of rocks shifting
and sand spilling
down dark and narrow tunnels.
listen to them slush and squish
under circles of ice
around a fallen tree.
listen to them wonder
what is spring?
listen to them
not wonder.
listen to them find
your sacral shell,
discarded in some silt
by a sleepy and satisfied beaver—
keystone base of my spine
who creaks in the wind
and then lays down to dream—
shell-tail-root-wonder they call
sacrum, go ahead— remember
your life of many bones,
rolling in a wave
more graceful than my hand,
offering your love
the first fruits
of a world that’s yet to come
of a world that’s got to be sweeter.