Exit Stage Right

Exit Stage Right

Maria Illich

Slough off your corporate self; wake to dreams
you dreamt before mortality choked you
in her cold coils. Rekindle tangerine
evenings, bright with stars and a rare blue
moon, when the numinous slid from its shell,
wet and wondrous. Spin sorrow into gold.
Share of the salmon in the holy well.
Savor salt. Climb Jacob’s ladder. Behold
how water scours stone to sand; how bindweed
opens herself to the sun. Suffer fools.
Taste rain. Eat fire. Let love satisfy need.
Join the heron waiting in her still pool.
Breathe. Be. Relish all your days and nights,
and when it’s time to exit, exit stage right.

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Maria Illich
Poet & Educator

Maria is an author and educator living in Houston, Texas. Her work has appeared in various anthologies and publications. Learn more about her at Mariaillich.com.

Photography by Jeremy Vessey