To Feel Small
A blade of grass
makes the ant feel small
A sapling stretching tall
makes the grass feel small
A hill of forest green
makes a single sapling small
and when mountains tower
it makes the hill seem small
and then above it all
the blue sky stretches wide
and even a single cloud
makes the mountains small
like the ant
and the blade of grass
Seeking Relief
Summer heat
lingers
and it is only
in the deep shadows
of the forest
that relief is found
as no breeze
touches boughs
and leaves
do not rustle
for the heat builds
in stillness
until even the air
shimmers with it
Frustration
It is not pretty
it is ugly
and hot
and it rains down
like embers
sparking off the fire’s
edges
to land on the skin
and sear the surface
as it flirts
with sparking
an inferno in the soul
of rage
unquenched
The Small Times
Small and delicate
I shrink down
from five foot ten
to four foot nothing
to two foot three
and then further still
until small enough
to crawl
into your pocket
where I can burrow
into the comfort
of you
and the world
disappears
Balcony Moments
Seeking silence
I surrender
to the softest touch
of your fingertips
and skim
of your lips
as you help
to whisk away
the world
beyond this moment
and this space
with you
I love you
Prompt: “Draw (at least) three cards, and use them to tell us a story about a farm with talking animals.”
Adrian Goat was a happy creature all the days of his life. He bounded and bounced around in his pen, climbed and played with the toys, and ate good food every day (The Sun).
One day the farmer left the gate unlatched though, and Adrian became curious. Tempted by the outside world (The Devil), he went against the warnings of Mother Spider and Brother Pig and squeezed through the opening (The Chariot).
He wandered off into the woods (The Fool), and soon found himself all alone as the sky began to darken.
Scared and alone, he could hear rustling in the trees, and he bleated fearfully instead of calling out for help, at a loss for words in the face of his first encounter with true fear (The Moon).
Remembering all the stories that the other animals had told him about wolves and bears with sharp teeth and claws, as the sounds came closer and closer he was terrified of what might jump out at him at any moment (Wheel of Fortune).
When the leaves right before Adrian Goat rustled, he shouted his fear and turned to run, dashing back through the trees and back into his pen, using his teeth to close the gate behind him. No longer curious or eager for adventure in the outside world, he was now very happy for his safe, comfortable pen (The Hanged Man).
In the woods, Brother Dog and Alfred Horse chuckled to each other as they emerged into the clearing that Adrian Goat had left behind. Chatting quietly with each other as they returned to the farm at a leisurely pace, assured that Adrian Goat had learned his lesson (The Hierophant) and would stray no more.
Twisting the Leaf 