Appeared in Vol 2 Issue 3 (Summer 2014)
C.M. Rivers is the feature poet of this issue. Three poems total are featured in the edition.
Header Image: © John Fowler
Compass
by C.M. Rivers
How do we become so fenced in,
afraid, mean-spirited?
Why not instead leave a trail
of breadcrumbs along the hedgerow.
Some acts of heroism are so quiet
no one sees. Let them go.
Someone doesn’t always need to know.
You are the keeper of the knowing,
and that can be enough.
Before you stow fragments of your life
in a shoebox in the closet,
you may want to reconsider
the heart compass,
study the topography of spirit
and the surrounding earthworks,
look where lines are drawn
between what others claim as truth
and what you, yourself, have chosen.
Watch how I behave.
See how I welcome silence?
There were days when I, too,
fled from it,
days like smoldering cellos,
days that came down along the coast.
I would put myself in the silence,
as a trial, then run away pleading.
Prophecies might be foretold
in mirrors and temples.
So be a little less organized,
let things clutter up.
Dust and muck are a part of it.
See the mountains?
Fling yourself out the window,
swing yourself across
the peaks and valleys,
back to where your journey began.
C.M. Rivers is a native of the Pacific Northwest, currently living in Ithaca, New York. Once-nominated for a Pushcart Prize, his poetry has appeared in Rosebud Magazine, Orbis International Journal, and several online literary journals. He is at work on a book of poetry and a young adult fantasy series. You can read more of his writing at www.cmrivers.com
