I.
Beautiful day for war,
fields of yellowing leaves
speckled with black spots
buffering centuries of secrets
stuck in the soil
whispering to any root
that’ll listen to its’ stories.
Put down your weapons,
pick up your ploughs.
II.
The earth has never faltered
under kind cultivation,
making angry footsteps soft
in the mercy of her ground.
She sets a table daily
in the crack of ancient pavement
Flowers blooming
feasting
celebrating
“beauty still lives here.”
Kelsi Folsom is the author of two poetry collections, Buried in the Margins (Finishing Line Press, 2020) and Words the Dirt Meant to Share (Desert Willow Press, 2018). She is published in West Texas Literary Review, The Caribbean Writer, Mothers Always Write, and elsewhere. Find her on Instagram @kelsifolsom.