may we all be given rest
in the winter of our days
beneath snow-heavy boughs
packed in with slumbering seeds.
may we only hear wind as a whisper
and the cool drip of icicles
on frozen soil. wrapped up in our
bearskins, warm within the earth,
kept still by the silence of our dreams.
unstirred by troubles, our weary
wings tucked underneath full bellies.
the simplicity of sleep, in a world
blinded by light, deafened to the
soft press of paws against the ground.
this is where we hide now. rooted
together for heat, the soft
of you and the soft of me. woven
into the dirt that is our bed.
may we not be found
until it is our time to push up
through the underbelly, feel air
on our skin and on our tongues.
may we forget there is a world
beyond this soothing dark
until our eyes are ready for the sun.
we don’t need to be anywhere
but here. for now.
may we both be given peace.
Celeste Briefs is an emerging poet and writer from Colorado whose work has been published by The Applause Journal, Sixfold, and CU Denver Anschutz Medical Campus's The Human Touch. She received her B.A. in English, Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Colorado, Denver, and currently serves as a student success coach with City Year Denver. Throughout her work she has explored themes of liminality, mythology, sensuality, and wonder, constantly seeking out hidden connections between the body and the earth, the mouth and the voice, the real and the dreamt. Embodying herself fully in her writing, she seeks to shine a light on the formlessness of being, the confusion of an ever-changing body, and the chaos of an ever-changing world. Though deeply informed by mental illness, her words nevertheless reach with longing towards a greater understanding of resilience, love, and the mundane things that make magick in our lives. Celeste also publishes long-form nonfiction pieces on her Substack newsletter The Lodestone Review, where this piece was originally published.
