The Thinnest of Whispers

12.2024

Photo: © Jess Selig

The Thinnest of Whispers

This fall is a type of conception,
an array of possibilities. Alive
but unacknowledged where the 
soft contours can't be seen.

At first, it seems nothing but
spilled guts on the floor. A mess
for the smallest crawlers to clean up. 
You think: This will take years.
And years. 

Only later does it dawn on you.
Total collapse is avoidable, 
and not recommended.
Skip the heroics & borrow
limbs nearby when you need them. 
A crash course in humility. 

This kind of fall is a confession, 
starting with the thinnest of whispers, 
needle-green, exhaled from the dark 
hardness surrounding it, leaving you with 
nothing to say until you are willing to say it out loud: 
Let it go on - the falls and finite breaths between.
Let this living go on.

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—From the trail: a split and fallen Western redcedar, ornamented for the winter. Music by The Golden-crowned Kinglets and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. - 12.30.2024

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Special thank you to Jess Selig who gave me permission to use her photograph in this post. You can find more of Jess’s photography on her website.

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