What I’m Saying Is

I am saying the road to happiness is through hell

I am saying this road hurts my heels

You arrived at the wrong time

You arrived when he wasn’t home

I can see how a forest falls down

I can see a sinkhole from its source

I am trying to make a map out of muck

I am trying not to walk on the water

There is a trail that tastes like ghost orchids

There is a swamp sitting here with my son

I am talking about taking slow wet steps

I am talking about birds that stand still

I do this so I can show you the scrub jay

I do this like he will die any day.

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Lorena Parker Matejowsky is a resident of Central Florida but spent her first thirty years in Texas. Her poetry was selected for the 2018 AWP Intro Journal Prize and Best New Poets 2018 anthology. She's sorry about Florida and Texas, y'all.