Poetry:
Hiking along rugged, tree-lined trails
Deep sobs emerge from hidden woods.
A scent of gratitude fills the frosty air.
There is peace in surrendering to sadness.
Fighting against the wind,
weary weighty thoughts push hard to overcome the jagged steep slope of the brain.
Miraculous melancholy triumphs over the treacherous terrain.
Earthly salts flow from seeing eyes.
Watering the dry patch of ground where new growth will emerge.
Pushing persistently through the hardness of long ignored soil.
The hike a soul journey,
a battle of the mind and heart.
Fear of falling deep into the natural depressions of land and body.
Grappling for a hold to stay upright.
Gratefully falling on bending knees, releasing to the earth and sky.
Crying cravings satisfied at last.
Lying back the vast blue above, the solid green grass below.
Buoyant and burden free.
Kelly Jacobsen lives on the mighty Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon. A 26-year veteran teacher, she decompresses while walking and hiking in the calming beauty of nature, counting the herons, pelicans and sea lions, along with her many blessings.
