Because You Never Know

By

Jennifer Angelina Petro

When the welcoming angel

Will spirit you away into the folds

Of the other world,

Who exactly you are becoming,

Why you love sunsets and stars,

What compassion grows in you

For the secret sorrows that haunt

Another’s heart, like lost echoes

In a cavern of lakes and rivers,

Where your reverence leads

And how it gets there,

How your cells build one atop

The other while you walk

Without spilling you to the ground.

It’s best to just go about your days

Singing, breathing with your whole body,

And adventuring into the questions

Until the word never finally falls away, like

The paper and string of an unexpected gift

Opened by a child who finds inside

What they’ve always wanted.

I Think So

By

Jennifer Angelina Petro

It’s possible, isn’t it?

To walk through the dark field,

Brushing your hands over the tops

Of the barley, under the stars

And the patient moon;

To let go, while at the same time

Hold on for dear life,

As thoughts flood,

And fear lifts you

Out of your body

To a safer place

Among the trees;

To hear the owl’s question

And to answer in the affirmative,

Declaring you rightfully exist

Among the fireflies, the crickets,

And the turning world;

To see the falling star

And to wish nothing more

Than for the owl to find food;

To step into the river, without

Succumbing to the cold,

And to reach down, lifting water

Over your head and say:

“This is my beloved child,

With whom I am well pleased.”