Excerpted from my forthcoming book, Tell the Turning (<<which you can pre-order right now via Kickstarter!), here’s The Scheme of Things, read by my friend Sus:

The Scheme of Things

I don't rely on solace from a sunset.
No matter how glorious the death.

I prefer the rise, the anticipation of day.
Though I love the liminal hours, I trust

the one best who delivers me toward
some brain-deep reassurance. 

If day is overcrowded, rushed, and already weary, 
well—like those before, I'm only human. 

So as the golden hour grays, and leafless trees 
are only that again, and bluebirds vanish 

and I watch the purple mist collect,
caress the fields, and leave them to the night

—I know my place here. 
I know what I'll forget with dawn,

when I'm outside praising
the benediction of light. 

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This is the latest in a series of poems from Tell the Turning read by my wonderful friends. More like this:

Role Model, read by Molly Lewis

Gift, read by Juliana Finch

Every Morning, read by Lauren