Lullaby for the Grieving by Ashley M. Jones
Lullaby for the Grieving
Ashley M. Jonesat the Sipsey River
make small steps.
in this wild place
there are signs of life
everywhere.
sharp spaces, too:
the slip of a rain-glazed rock
against my searching feet.
small steps, like prayers—
each one a hope exhaled
into the trees. please,
let me enter. please, let me
leave whole.
there are, too, the tiny sounds
of faraway birds. the safety
in their promise of song.
the puddle forming, finally,
after summer rain.
the golden butterfly
against the cave-dark.
maybe there are angels here, too—
what else can i call the crown of light
atop the leaves?
what else can i call
my footsteps forward,
small, small, sure?
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World edited by Ada Limón, published by Milkweed Editions, 2024. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“Published in association with the Library of Congress and edited by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, a singular collection of poems reflecting on our relationship to the natural world by fifty of our most celebrated contemporary writers.
In recent years, our poetic landscape has evolved in profound and exciting ways. So has our planet. Edited and introduced by the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States, Ada Limón, this book challenges what we think we know about “nature poetry,” illuminating the myriad ways our landscapes-both literal and literary-are changing.
You Are Here features fifty previously unpublished poems from some of the nation’s most accomplished poets, including Joy Harjo, Diane Seuss, Rigoberto González, Jericho Brown, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Paul Tran, and more. Each poem engages with its author’s local landscape-be it the breathtaking variety of flora in a national park, or a lone tree flowering persistently by a bus stop-offering an intimate model of how we relate to the world around us and a beautifully diverse range of voices from across the United States.
Joyful and provocative, wondrous and urgent, this singular collection of poems offers a lyrical reimagining of what “nature” and “poetry” are today, inviting readers to experience both anew.” (Source)
ABOUT ASHLEY M. JONES
Ashley M. Jones is the Poet Laureate of Alabama (2022-2026). She is the first person of color and youngest person in Alabama’s history to hold this position. Jones is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Lullaby for the Grieving. She is the co-editor of WHAT THINGS COST: An Anthology for the People, and she has earned fellowships and awards from many organizations, including the Academy of American Poets, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, and the Alabama State Council on the… (more)
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ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: nature • healing • grief • Or browse the index
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