Retreat
stacey dye
Tangled brambles and briars
part to mark a path through
a small cluster of trees.
Guided by sunrays sparkling
in the meadow on the other side
I thread my way through.
Once inside the portal, my first
breath is deep and cleansing.
I scrunch up knees to chest
on a giant, felled long ago during
a summer storm, now peacefully
sleeping under its blanket of moss.
It is here I shed the many
worries that steal my sleep,
like bandits in the night.
It is here I escape from
depressionīs shadow, that renders
me hopeless and broken.
Wildflowers sway into the wind
sweeping my troubles away,
tossed in atop waving petals.
Hawks fly overhead,
stoop and grab dark thoughts
winging them away.
And what of those that remain?
Fodder for the rapids.
Let the river carry them downstream.
This tranquility of mind is short,
as sunīs brilliance wanes.
Backtracking to the footpath
guided by black clouds firing lightning
bolts in the world from which I came,
I thread my way back through.
