A month back in New York.
Two days away from three weeks into the new gig.
A worrying number of as yet unopened boxes of books.
A forest of packing materials.
Five years away from New York.
A constant negotiation of space.
Stony trails of jagged beauty rise
like stretch marks streaking sand-hips.
All the Earth has borne beguiles us
& battered bodies build our acres.
Babes that sleep in hewn rock cradles
learn to bear the hardness coming.
Tough grace forged in tender bones—
may this serve & bless them well.
—from Mercy Beach by Kamilah Aisha Moon