She’s not an oracle,
simply my therapist.
I bring my basket
brimming to her now—
can you believe it—
now only once
every two or three moons,
an offering of fears
laid at her feet.
She peels back the dark
cloth, takes in the writhing serpents,
notes their diminishment
in size and power.
Only garden snakes,
she smiles, her eyes
sparked and celestial.
All is well, she decrees,
and my right mind nods,
while my left hesitates,
remembers how
small creatures grow
and hunger— flames
seeking oxygen.
We are never truly
out of the woods.
Look, see the fossils
of our footprints.
Never Truly
Ann Orr Weil’s poetry appears in Best New Poets 2024, Pedestal Magazine, RHINO, Chestnut Review, 3Elements Review, Thimble Literary Magazine, and elsewhere. Author of Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman (Yellow Arrow, 2023) and Blue Dog Road Trip (Gnashing Teeth, 2024), Weil is a former special education teacher, current kettle corn lover, and four-time Pushcart nominee who lives in Michigan and California. To read more of her work, visit www.annweilpoetry.com.