Grow a garden instead of digging a grave​

Issue 6

I am grateful for all the loneliness i've gathered
Over the past twenty years
All those wild berries I once claimed to be poisonous
Have now ripened
proven themselves edible
As my survival has triumphed
Feet persisting through the uncertain mud
 
When I came into this world alone,
unclothed,
I slipped out
The fresh dirt
A crying flower pushing up the soil with my skull
Born hungry
Born Lonely
Born knowing
I must savor each piece of that sacred fruit
And call myself full
 
When the world gets dark
I’m grateful for each pale faced moon
I've screamed at
Cried under
Questioned
And dreamt upon 
They have given each night a bit of light
So the heart can keep beating
It's lonely drum
It lives off moon juice and
Sour fruit
If it was given satisfaction
That would be the end of us all 
We have to keep searching for more
Unearthing all the impossible possibilities
We will exhaust to death
I must chew on my solitude
The emptiness of two am
Knowing there is still light here
Enough to water the garden
Enough to feed the stars
Enough to write a poem under
Enough for the heart to keep beating
 
There is enough

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SIDNEY CRUZ won 1st Place of the Poetry Writing Contest. She is a writer from Chula Vista, Ca.

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