Depart for the Stars, paper collage, 2025

there’s madness
there’s madness everywhere 
and it’s too easy to be part of it

a small voice within me says,
be as streams
this, too, is a wild act of self-preservation

i conjure the image of a wise woman who tells me,
build a comet in your mind

circumambulate
do as the forest does 
and set sail to the rhythms 
of your bones

she is also me

she asks, do you hear the little bird 
outside your window?
isn’t his joy contagious?

child, your mind 
was made for wandering 
though in their madness 
they tell you otherwise

she continues, as a gardener who
tends the flowers of my soul:

when the madness knocks at your door, my child, 
never forget that your ancestors are butterflies
and the trees are your friends
though in their madness
they’ll tell you otherwise

in their madness, they’ll tell you that science says 
you cannot build the comet in your mind 
and depart for the stars whenever you please

but build, you must 

there is madness leaping over the grass 
and spilling into the concrete
madness on the streets and in the fish tanks
madness raging across our kitchen tables

my child, when you find madness in the food
and madness in the water
in the preachers and politics and war machines

when the madness screams so loud you can barely take it
remember that comets were made for riding 
that the little bird’s joy is also your joy

you must be brave 
and depart for the stars 
depart for the stars 
as fast as you can