by Ahrend Torrey
Things take the time they take.
Don’t worry.
How many roads did St. Augustine
follow before he became
St. Augustine?
—Mary Oliver, “Don’t Worry”
Sometimes, like weeds break the
ground we want to grow
swiftly, and right now. We don’t
want to wait season after season.
We don’t want to push
through the concrete slab.
We want to shoot from the moist soil
like a rain lily, who in the night
wasn’t there, then appeared full
and bright by morning.
Unfortunately, our rate of growth
is not our choice.
Yes, we can give ourselves the right
amount of sun.
Yes, we can mix compost
to help.
Yes, we can give ourselves
the adequate amount of water.
But if we’re the magnolia tree, we’ll
grow a foot or less each year.
If the Bald Cypress, a good foot
and a half.
We can’t all be the fast-growing
River Birch.
If we were, no huge white blossoms
would hang in the air.
If we were, no cheery wren
in the Tallow, would be there.
Ahrend Torrey enjoys exploring nature in southern Louisiana where he lives with his husband Jonathan, their two rat terriers Dichter and Dova, and Purl their cat. He holds an MA and MFA in creative writing from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and is the author of “Small Blue Harbor” published by the Poetry Box Select imprint (Portland) in 2019. His poetic influences include Anne Sexton, Cavafy, Etheridge Knight, James Wright, Jane Kenyon, Langston Hughes, Li-Young Lee, Mary Oliver, and Walt Whitman.
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