Where Grass is Pressed
April 13, 2015When you’ve heard a door creaking shut and the wind is dying down and the road is longer than it should be, longer than you thought it would be and…
When you’ve heard a door
creaking shut
and the wind is dying down
and the road is longer
than it should be, longer
than you thought it would be
and no one can tell you
how much farther on
the window in the welcome place
will be
look for a circle
where grass is pressed
into the ground, where it hasn’t
sprung back up yet—look
for the places where the animals
have slept. Rest is recent,
rest is possible again.
Close your eyes and nestle
into sleep, into love.
–Helen Frost (Allen County)
Helen Frost writes for children, teens, and adults. Her books include novels-in-poems (Keesha’s House, Diamond Willow, Crossing Stones, Hidden, Salt), poetry collections (as if a dry wind), anthologies (Season of Dead Water), plays, picture books (Monarch and Milkweed, Sweep Up the Sun), and a book about teaching writing (When I Whisper, Nobody Listens). She has worked extensively with children and teens, helping them to live non-violently. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Indiana Humanities is celebrating National Poetry Month by sharing a poem from an Indiana poet every day in April (hand-selected by Indiana Poet Laureate George Kalamaras). Check in daily to see who is featured next!