Landscape

I look at you
and at once

all the gaps
and restless
spaces in me
settle into this
landscape, 

I drift home
wrapped
in a blanket
of magnolias. 

What I Am Waiting For

I am spinning in the
space where words
won’t grow, laying 
sheets of ice around 
me. Despite the  
magnificent all of 
it, there are still  
seasons when I slip  
far from myself,  
untrusting of my 
own bones.   

I am waiting  
to travel  
to the field where  
my truth grows and  
feel the warm  
noise of its breath.  

Some nights when  
the wind winds itself  
around the branches 
with such absolute  
certainty, I plug  
my ears with doubt 
and silence all  
the dogwoods.   

Today I will admit  
that all I can  
do for this self  
this day is unmuffle  
the spring that rises  
then hides in me,  
to hold this heart of  
winter until the cold  
breaks. 

CLAUDINE NASH

Claudine Nash is a psychologist, award-winning poet, and author of The Wild Essential (Kelsay Books, 2017), Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, 2016), and The Problem with Loving Ghosts (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Widely published, her work has received numerous honors including nominations for the Pulitzer, Pushcart, and Best of the Net.