into earth muffled dark with fear that i hold
in risen shoulders, sacral plate, pelvis, vertebrae.

my earth heart sends a radio signal, a star wink,
dragon fly’s glance & wing clicks resonate

through my body mass – doubts, societal expectations
such as a body can only be whole if white or

a vanilla mind must coordinate with skin like
matching gloves, hats, shoes & purse ‘50’s style

my vertebral discs are collapsing, degenerates,
generations crushed from carrying false beliefs

squeezed out, cut from the herd, don’t fit
transcriptions, images iconically worshiped

politicized dirt digging & mole & i burrow deep
escaping while grubbing in the back yard

trust
i trusted too much

hardpan cardiac crust, brittle protection among ancestors
mole! don’t leave me here fumbling without vision

you scramble from under the wood waiting to be stacked
or in the lodge across my feet – your fear is not the darkness

your light a calibrated beacon that guides through the underworld
to emerge in thick green grass

do not fear the deep descent, you say,
burn brighter.

Suzanne S. Rancourt, is Abenaki/Huron, Quebecois, Scottish descent, a USMC & Army Veteran​, and an award winning author of four books: Billboard in the Clouds​; murmurs at the gate, Old Stones, New Roads; Songs of Archilochus. A Writing the Land Project fellow, Suzanne continues to teach writing and travel. Find more of her work at https://www.expressive-arts.com.