Alone, but together, at Tollgate by Melodie Wright

 

 

Alone, but together, at Tollgate

by Melodie Wright

 

The water holds the sky in pieces, 

a cloud unraveling, 

the quick curve of wings 

as ducks descend to gather.

 

Beneath the surface

roots trade in quiet economies,

turning what is spent

into another chance at life.

 

A chorus of unseen insects

rises from the reeds, 

not for me, 

not for any audience at all,

but because singing 

is what the body knows to do

in the presence of abundance. 

 

I sit on a bench, listen to the flow

of the limestone cascades,

and for a moment I am certain 

that belonging has always

been this simple.