Dear World

I.
because I am
so sad and ordinary
my eyes brown
like common nuts
I go down to the river
at midnight to
bathe hoping to
take on a little
sheen from the moon
maybe, and glisten.

II.
it is an ordinary thing
perhaps, to be told
we are loved but it is
extraordinary to
believe it.
the nesting owlets
open their sickled
beaks and are fed.
again the sun is tossed
into the air at 5am
and the phloem
of trees flutes
water into the leaves
that wave thankfully
over this rare earth
daughter to a common
star. we wake up
believing we won’t live
but we do, proving that
even the dead haven’t
left us and the light is
truly ours.

III.
I will take the word
into my mouth
and repeat it
the way the holy
and mad can’t help
themselves from reciting.
and in exchange I will
not die slowly.
IV.
I am ordinary
but in this
light the entire
world is silver.
dear world, I am
sorry I did not
believe that you
left me here
to live.