nature has always loved me best,
has never made me apologize
for being too little or too much;
appreciates my wilds and my feral side
without telling me to be less fierce
or angry—
nature never tells me i feel too hard
or love too much and she never dismisses
my emotions,
but she has washed away the broken
pieces of my being;
and she has always accepted me with open arms
when i’ve needed healing or simply to sit
among the trees with the wind dancing through
my long locks until the sadness melts
away in the magic laughter of sunbeams dancing
through the trees or in crow song or tiny little
wildflowers nudging me to remind me
there is beauty in life and in me even when i am
blind to it.

Linda Crate

Linda M. Crate’s works have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She is the author of eight poetry chapbooks, the latest of which is: follow the black raven (Alien Buddha Publishing, July 2021). She has also authored three micro-collections, and four full length poetry collections.