#56 New Moon in Pisces - Ode To Nature poem

To the wetlands

My dear neighborhood pond 

My confidant

Thank you for holding my grief in a world that asks me to appear as if I'm okay.

Wrapping me in your musky smells and bird song.

Without you, I worry that I would have already slipped away within myself to hide from the external strain that comes with trying to act as if fear, worry, and despair don't sit in my belly on a daily basis. 

Thank you for reminding me on every visit that I'm worthy of feeling all of my emotions, from the joyous to the solemn ones. You understand my well of depth in ways I fear no human ever could. Filling the hollow ache with times of respite. 

Bird cataloging has become one of my favorite activities because, for a moment, my world is filled with colorful wonder. 

When I'm with you is one of my few instances of peace and tranquility. When taking full breaths come to me easily. 

Thank you for teaching Me that sometimes stillness is the loudest form of presence. 

That what appears on the surface is never all of what it seems, for there are entire worlds lying underneath just waiting to be seen.

Thank you for teaching Me not to be afraid of my ebbs and flows, for cycles and seasons of death, and rebirth are a part of what it means to be a living being on this earth. 

In a world that teaches me that to slow down is a death sentence; you teach me that to float is just as valuable of a life preservation technique as swimming.