Refuge

Mount St. Francis, Indiana

You are welcome to walk, but leash
your dog. The heart

can go untethered, nose
to the ground, sniffing

the inevitable perfume of growth
and decay. Practice

brotherly silence with
the trees, or collect

in the cup of your ear the language
of water over

fossil stones. Observe
two barking geese

descend, wing wedded
perfectly to wing.

Call back your heart. Resume
the path. Savor

the deep sweet happiness
of being in this world.

 

—Mary Fell (Wayne County)

This poem first appeared in Worcester Review.

 

Mary Fell retired as a professor of English at Indiana University East in 2012 and has since become a student of Spanish.  She is looking forward to a Spanish immersion class in Costa Rica this June. Recently, she composed the afterword for Christopher Gilbert’s posthumous poetry collection, Turning Into Dwelling, from Graywolf.

Poetry Prompt:  Entering the Spirit of a Place

Write a poem that gives directions about how to be part of a particular place. This could be a place in nature, some historical site, or your own street.  How can a person’s five senses and actions attune him or her to this place? As you immerse yourself in the poem, allow it to suggest advice you would never have thought of on your own.

Indiana Humanities is celebrating National Poetry Month by sharing a poem and prompt every day in April. Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner selected these poems and wrote the prompts.