Ink and Pen

Scratch sugar pine, smell vanilla.
Pull the honeysuckle blossom for

a bead of nectar. Smell. Taste your space.
Roots of redwoods, mangrove and tamarisk

extend under acres in an extensive handshake.
Tar is the swamp of city streets. The world

desires to absorb us. Crawl
from your doorway into wherever you are.

Don’t fear pebbles denting kneecaps, dry leaves
crushed beneath palms. Find mud. Be received.

-Alexa Mergen