Poison ivy flutters its glossy toxic leaves climbing up the double-trunk pine Buttercups, my granddaughter tells me, are harmful to horses, which explains why the white horse looks so picturesque among uneaten tall yellow flowers Deer won’t nibble cat mint or marigolds, or the leggy lavender. Someone—a woodchuck?––ate the echinacea, but the wild roses flourish everywhere, untouched, releasing a seductive scent. I seek a place in this creation between my inner poisons and surrender, between the rhythm of the flowing seasons, the rivers of thoughts that rise and fall belonging to the smallest self, a creeper reaching toward the light while rooting deeper, into heartspace recognition of Self unfolds dropping fragrant moon petals around a double-trunk pine //////// More of Kim Ellis's work can be read on Lightwood by entering her name on our Search Button. Kim Ellis began her writing career with a red crayon under her parents’ coffee table. Now, as a retired teacher, she is still scribbling away, producing the Karakesh Chronicles, a middle grade adventure fantasy series (from Handersen Publishing), as well as keeping her blog (www.tangledmagic.blog) supplied with poetry, reviews, and other musings. Her poems, stories, and articles have appeared in Cricket, Stinkwaves, High Five, Hudson Valley Parent, and Chronogram magazines. She has worked as a teacher consultant with the Hudson Valley Writing Project, a writing group leader, and editor. Kim lives with her husband and Bengal cat beside the Wallkill River in New York’s Hudson Valley.
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