Held
A Poem on Friendship
We spot treasure outside inside
somewhere in between — our veins showing us
how, our secrets showing us why,
because we’re all new enough at this
and the more I sit with you,
the more we sit like solid rock
opened by the early sun,
cracked and beautiful, our patterns of moss
and root and sprouts overlapping,
laying ourselves out to each other
like carpet,
speaking,
listening,
interrupting,
imperfectly joyful,
pulsing like sweet small jellyfish,
seeing ourselves in each other’s transparent parts,
mirrors in a tub, in a system, in a nest.
Having arrived soft, stable, already held,
the more I am able to hold this space
for you and me and us and belong,
always having belonged, simply
allowing myself to see it now
inside us, through me through you
and knowing it was always there and knowing
knowing: it will keep going.
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© 2021 Alma Ortman. All Rights Reserved
