this Earth
whose hills beckon like a homecoming
whose fields
lie golden and greening at my feet
her rolling contours packed
with sustenance
in her heart
she guards a molten core
sends its heat upward
nourishing growth across her surface
she breathes her fire
into my own belly
it fills my pores flares
in my eyes flashes
from my footsteps
as I roam the landscape
of her outer crust
with its thin layer of life
—
Melissa Huff feeds her poetry from the mystery of the natural world and the ways in which body, nature and spirit intertwine. An advocate of the power of poetry presented out loud, she twice won awards in BlackBerry Peach Prizes for Poetry: Spoken and Heard, sponsored by NFSPS. Publishing credits include The Orchards Poetry Journal, RockPaperPoem, Gyroscope Review, Persimmon Tree, and Blue Heron Review. Melissa is frequently sighted making her way between Illinois and Colorado.
