all you need is a tree

What I'm listening to: New Slang by The Shins

all you need is a tree

and an open field

and a wide, gray sky

and a warm sweater

and lowered expectations

and the lack of stern voices

telling you to

be still

be obedient 

be quiet

be calm

think outside the box

get outside that box

get outside!

cast your wiggles into the open air

tell the birds of your heartache

see if your voice can reach the tops of the clouds,

go ahead, I won't stop you.

you want to rip it apart,
this wild chaos

in your fingers and toes

your muscles and bones

your skin and your brain,

how they itch!

but it's the scratch of the tree limb under your grasp

the wind biting the life back into your cheekbones

and your lungs filling with icy air

(deep breath. full chest.

can you feel it in there?)

that will put you back together,

stitch by stitch.

I'm sorry for all the things I've told you to be,

when all you really needed was a tree.