Stretching

I dedicate this poem to Addie, whom I had the joy of meeting on my flight to Mississippi and connecting over hobbies and obsessions.

Oh, humanity, stretch and stretch and be something new. Be orchid petal slip, be river water smooth, be crouching predatory gleam. Be grace and lithe gravity.

Be transparent, transformed, potent, powerful. Stretch out the lax muscle, the brittle bones, the silent voice.

Be more than literature and pen. Be more than searching eyes and curious light. Be more than muted colors.

Oh, humanity, be the birth of ideas that thrash, that burn, that fight. Never settle for any voice threatening to drown you. Be the one who cultivates and be the one to see your descendants harvest and use. I dare you to drink deeply of the beauty of life, and most of all, I dare you to drink the bitterness, the pain of life. I dare you to dare, to risk, to fly.

I promise you,

Those who have the deepest wounds dance lightly, speak powerfully, and fly the furthest.

Linda Peachey, 2022