Perfect Delays

Created delays,

Days below clouds

Finding reason

In rain drops and

Bent stems,

Pushing off the end,

A final chapter

That we’ve always known,

A familiar face

A familiar voice

Refusal to accept

The truth we buried

Beneath muck and mud.

Dappled sunlight

Pushed forth growth

Green stem

Growing true

Through the weeds

And briars we planted

In hopes of pushing off

The fruits of our days,

In attempt to hold on

To the routine known-

Afraid of movement

And trapped in motion,

A locking of muscles

Against alteration.

We nudge ourselves along

Fearful of next steps,

Despite clear path

And the knowledge of hope

The revealing quality

Of the places we knew,

The people we’ve known,

As we struggle to lift ourselves

On the next step of the ladder,

That we built ourselves.

Katrina Thornley is a nature poet and novelist that resides in Rhode Island. She has two poetry collections currently published, a novel, as well as a short story anthology. Her poetry collections "Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature" and "Arcadians: Wooden Mystics" were inspired by a local park and life in her small rural town. You can find them on Amazon now!