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All the ways we hurt
The 1AM me wandered
In the bone deep cold
Feeling the weight of added scars
I tell myself it’s life
Emotional payment for living
Unliquidated IOU’s for surviving
Asigna demands it’s due
Rendered in pieces of mind
I stood among saplings stark
Against an indigo sky
Falling to my knees
Hands snow coffined
Seeking buried spirits
Comfort crow or raven
Fallen from the sky in this crevice
Let nature take this burden
Feel the earth groaning
Roots unfurling
It’s a settled place
We are not meant to be bowed
Our hearts rib caged animals
How frail humanity
Without her woods
Close the doors
Keep the wild from harm
Sage Ravenwood is a deaf Cherokee woman residing in upstate NY with her two rescue dogs, Bjarki and Yazhi, and her one-eyed cat Max. She is an outspoken advocate against animal cruelty and domestic violence. Her work can be found in Glass Poetry — Poets Resist, The Temz Review, Contrary, 433 Magazine, perhappened, and Sundress Press anthology — The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry.
