Sometimes I like to pretend to be a poet.

[aemilia_rose]

Let yourself sink into the soil,

Like a ship dipping beneath a great brown wave.

Feel the mud welling up around toes

The dirt seeping under nails and

The insect antennae tickling your soles.

Let yourself break the rules

Be an adventurer in a treacherous land

As on a safari across desert sands where

Bronze beads tinkle around slender ankles and

Deep, warm limbs meet bare with hot earth.

Let yourself be unshackled, snap free of

The straps, buckles, laces - everything!

Step out of confines into the world, with

Nothing between your flesh and the hard rock

Slicing and stabbing with cold intent.

Let yourself be hurt.

Don’t shy from fear of stepping on the bee that

Waits with stinger poised among the clovers.

The wrong step will bequeath more than pain

For comfort begets nothing.

Let yourself then bury your toes in the dirt

The filth, the nutrients, the seedlings - everything!

Don’t be afraid to take off your sandals

For the place where you are standing

Is holy ground.