Welcome April!

---

'you have to be home'

You have to be home

for poetry to visit

And I don't mean at your address

of residence.

I mean, you need to be 

Residing

Or at least doing regular check

ins

On the sacred ground where 

your heart addresses your

thinking mind.

Where your soul checks in with its

creator.

Not always a super comfortable 

vibe there

At least not always painless

But it is good and real and love

of the unconditional type is what

makes the only walls of this 

dwelling.

So yeah, sometimes I abandon

this place for days and run crying 

though the streets, pleading for 

distraction from what I feel,

rejecting acceptance of what I am 

seeing.

And sometimes, I try

More clever ways to be unhoused 

from myself

Compartmentalized attempts

at control

That look shiny and promising at

first

But end up being heavy, never 

ending vacancies from all that is 

good too.

Anyways,

 it all is a lot.

But,

         I am home today, listening

         for poetry's knock.

Written by Brooke Erin Stout

April 1, 2025

in celebration of National Poetry Month!