How to Listen

I’m not asking you
to come down here
and clean out the muddy
corners of my life.

I’m asking you 
to be a forest
where mud and leaves,
shadows and light,
growth and decay
all have their unquestioned
belonging.

I’m asking you 
to be an ocean,
where even great storms
don’t trouble the depths
and each tear is welcomed
as a homecoming.

I’m asking you
to be as spacious 
as the vast darkness
behind the sky,
which will never be afraid
of what I do
or don’t choose.

I’m not asking you
to hold me together.
I’m asking you
to open so wide
there’s room for all the ways
I come apart.

This poem is from my new book:

The poems in this book walk with you through seasons of heartbreak, rebirth, and homecoming. See all the details and where to get it here: