3 poems, by Heather Boob

1

Walk gratefully
away —
when you have finally
learned the lesson.
Even if it has exposed you.
For this naked Truth
is now free
to swim bare-skinned
in a silky sea,
and your heart —
now the mast —
bravely sets sail
on the winds of change.

2

Perhaps I love her deceptive softness —
The way she keeps changing her mind
untethered and unwilling
to surrender
her pushing and pulling
dragging me through the Mud

Perhaps I love the mud bath —
A chance to let the earth penetrate me
the closest I have come to the Creator
Earth-bound body
made up of water
Reaching for the root of my existence

Perhaps I love the reaching
For it is what I have always
known. And the quieted comfort I feel
from a lifetime of wanting is
the perfect preface to this
letting go

3

(I fill my glass again)
Although it is not my only option,
I choose
Happiness.
And the heartbreak and despair that has been lingering
in heavy air (which requires me to carry around
a paper lunch bag to aid in
breathing — in and out, uniformly
folded in my back pocket
in case of emergencies)
must also be welcomed here.
For it, too, reminds me to breathe
in and out. Repeat forever —
(I fill my glass again) in hopes
to become (more and more cockeyed with gratitude)



NOTE: inspiration came from a number of different poems, by a variety of poets. The very last phrase, about becoming cockeyed with gratitude, is borrowed from Billy Collins (“As If To Demonstrate An Eclipse”).