The Clearing
Listen to Irene ...
You think you can't take another step, but
you do. Brambles soon give way to soft
pine needles lining a nest of sunshine. What
else can you do but guzzle unexpected light,
praise the boots that carried you through?
Impossibly you ignore the pull of yonder—
for a moment you are both sky and window,
a map into the place where despair breaks.
you do. Brambles soon give way to soft
pine needles lining a nest of sunshine. What
else can you do but guzzle unexpected light,
praise the boots that carried you through?
Impossibly you ignore the pull of yonder—
for a moment you are both sky and window,
a map into the place where despair breaks.
This poem is copyright (©) Irene Latham 2025
About the Writer
Irene Latham
Irene writes poems and stories from the Purple Horse Poetry Studio & Music Room beside a mountain lake in Blount County, Alabama. With more than twenty books out in the world, her latest adventure is curating poetry anthologies with her "Poetic Forever Friend" Charles Waters, including The Mistakes That Made Us (an NCTE Notable Poetry Book), If I Could Choose a Best Day, and For the Win. Read hundreds of Irene's poems for free at irenelatham.com.
