On Still Writing

from Out With Lanterns, a daily poetry practice

One day you will be ready 
to ignore the ruthless 
voice in your head telling 
you to give up, to not try.
You will try, just a little
that day, and maybe 
again the next. Maybe 
a long gone redwood 
mother will tell you to 
keep going, to use her
crumbling bark as pages. 
Maybe she will say an owl 
is in plain sight, but you
can’t see it. The tree will 
laugh, say: look where
you’re not looking. You 
search but can't find it. 
You haven't given up. 
You’re still looking,
trying still. 

Photo by Julie Barton, Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, CA