It’s Okay to Get into Trouble

by Alethea Eason


What is your fortune? Do you want to know?
Does the sage scented wind send premonitions
of where you must fall, where you must go?
The mountain faces are scarred. Your husband
whispers behind his teeth as you drive toward
destinations announced by signs along the road.

Trouble is a town you’ll get to.
You’re headed on your way. Turn west
toward all you’ve tried to avoid:
unpleasant messes, grief, a final visit,
awkward moments of indecision,
the grinding force of love and resentment.

It’s okay to get into trouble,
to shout, to act badly, and then to cry.
This is it. Your own eyes see the lilacs
and the snow. The sage predicts an ending.
The clouds form patterns only your battered
and holy self can see. The day is perfect.
The rapid blink of love will not be remembered.
You’re in trouble with the nature of things.


* * * * *

Alethea's has recently been published in El Palacio, the Magazine of the Museum of New Mexico. She released the novel Whispers of the Old Ones (young-adult magical realism) in April. She is currently working on the Opened Earth Poetry Series. The Mermaid Lucia and Rainmaker, the first two chapbooks in the series, are available on Amazon.