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UWC-USA

Weather
the summer glow slipped through my fingertips 
and into the leaves of the aspens.
the next time i’ll see green
will be on the precipice of a new summer
a better one
one that doesn’t seize my guts and fill them with tears
and one that doesn’t squeeze me until I burst into sharp flames.

fall hits hard and fall hurts hard 
but right now i’ve still got the summer sun 
filling me up and holding me to the sky
so that when I lick the air 
it tastes like curiosity.
i can feel a novelty coming to me
in the shapes of sunshine and snow 
hot and cold
turn a new page and
dissolve the old.


Rising
i am still trying to formulate the words 
to give uwc the credit it deserves
for transforming me. 

it was something about the way 
the canyon cradled me,
the grand canyon,
sebastian canyon,
that made me love the 
way my feet hit the ground
and my voice cracks the air
and my arms hold the trees.

and it was something about the way
the wind pushed me, 
off the precipice of safety and 
into the whirlpools of freedom,
that made me crave
the way it tastes when i fall into the dirt,
which is soft like sand 
until it gets between my teeth. 

arriving at uwc felt like
being thrown to the back of a race. 
but eventually i learned that this place 
disempowered me so i could learn the ropes-
so that when it was my turn, i would rise. 
and i am.
rising. 


The Grand Canyon
i wish i was in the grand canyon,
falling asleep next to new friends,
finding myself in the way stars light up my dreams
and the way the canyonside whispers symphonies 
in my ears while i trace its edges with my feet.
it felt good to feel
and the colors of the canyonside gave me a palette to work with.
the rose gold of my dirt made me angry
and the soft royal blue of my sky gave me clarity.
the canyon reminded me what was important, who was important.
but while i want to give full credit to the canyon, 
it wasn’t the work of the canyon.
it was my canyon and my dirt and my sky 
that gave me resilience and a home.