Council

I am done being quiet

in the councils of my own spirit 

often I have been 

an obedient daughter 

a patient wife

a devoted friend

I have surface-mined the riches

of my being 

and given up many treasures.

Now you are telling me

to be careful 

but I am always careful

the voices in me spend

every waking hour 

filled with anxious preparation 

for every possible future. 

This winter

in the ice of the attic

I am going to write a book 

about atonement 

tell the story of the unredeemable 

and their journey to give 

an impossible gift 

to the people to whom 

they owe nothing. 

Inside my head

they are already living

and speaking 

and it is thanks to these 

risks I am taking 

that their tale has come back 

into being. 

The days of caution are done

I will keep walking 

into my dream of the apocalyptic 

future where I am protected

by his arms.