Three Poems by Leen Raats
Three Poems by Leen Raats Beyond these mountains What lies beyond these mountains rests within me, deep and low an unspoiled valley where mythical creatures with unearthly motives lead late travelers to their destiny. This world within me where red deer graze in oak leaf-filtered evening light. Their noses steaming, the fur on their flanks moist, their hooves scraping over humus, moss, and childhood dreams. The sound of a crackling twig turns their muscles into granite. In these deciduous forests, old pains resurrect like fairy rings as the days get shorter. The pine forests are even older. It’s where the dead like to dwell, their footsteps muffled by a carpet of needles. I feed them memories that linger between dead straight trunks, cold and silent. Unwillingly, I keep them alive. * What I want to tell my inner child You are safe now I’m here muscles grown, back straight, fists ready. No one will harm you. I know it hurts, still how you were not seen, not allowed to be there but I see
