One night you will wake suddenly
and descend the stairs aware of a presence,
and passing through the rooms and finding none
will stand and stare out of the window into the night
where an ancient buck stands grazing in the yard,
his flank contracting and swelling with each breath.

At the sight of his spare outline you will remember:
this is not your home. Long ago your soul sewed
the walls of its tent from the heavy canvas
of this same silence, fashioned a door
out of this fine darkness; now they billow
around you disturbing your rest.

So this night calls you: abandon the heat and hearth
where your heart has always been found
and enter the absence where it no longer will;
follow the love-song of the near-visible
as it wends, drawing you ever beyond
the illuminations of an existence where the sun stands high
and hives of bees groan beneath their labor.

Passionate about creating space for people to contemplate art, poetry, and the natural world, both in and beyond the classroom, Meg founded the Poetry in the Parks public humanities project (poetryintheparks.org) in 2019. The project explores the sacred beauty of our land communities through collaboratively created poetry films. Her collection of illustrated poetry, Forty Days in the Wilderness, Wandering (Finishing Line Press) was published in September 2021. Connect with her at meganmuthupandiyan.com.