
Together We Rise

I won’t come out
And light things up for you
I’m a new moon tonight
Allyson Sydney
Don’t forget
That you are a tree
Roots open across the earth
Flowers sprouting along your limbs
Skeleton thickening in the winters
So why are you watching the acorns
Burying themselves below
Only just having the potential
To grow
The first break is
A cloudy frozen scape
But you wait for them
To crack soil
To force their way through
Why do you pause for them
Because
The truth is that
Even when they find their way up
They will never catch up to you
So look for the sun
Keep growing
You’ll meet another tree
That blooms like you
Half the time I’m alone at night
But this time
I was barefoot
On the marsh
When the sky dimmed to 3am
Smoke dripped
From my mouth
Nothing there
To carry it away
Only a few stars
Showed up
And the Moon
Was too shy
To see through the clouds
Sick flutters enslave me
To a slow pain
That feels like joy
They are anxieties
Hiding in corners of sleepy shadows
They are dark lyrics
Sloshing behind my teeth
So I plant them in the dirt
And let flowers bloom
Out of my throat
Because it is better to grow
Than pluck buttercups
Below the trees is where I lay–
I wished to float free like the autumn leaves,
And gently live among the crisp fall breeze.
Here, confusion escaped me with relief,
And my troubles misplaced like snow-covered keys.
As the moon faded away the day,
I began to stray.