#3

Returning to the Island on the Regional Retreat (10/23/16)

And the stillness settles in
like a lamp
like the light
like the safe circle of return.

In spite of the November wind
whose got things going
the grass
the leaves
the river
awe-fully stirred up
awe-fully awake
awe-fully alive.

Now you see it-
the leaves
picked brightly from the trees
are doing cartwheels
across the lawn
just because
it feels good.

Now you feel it-
the toe dipped into
the still water
has taken you over
on the inside.

Ancient pools of knowing there.
They are bubbling up.
This sun
this star
this watery entry
inside my chest.
The island within.

-Llora H. Kressmann