Expansive-ness
in answers unknown—

exhaustion,
bruised with hesitation,
one step at a time.

Breathe.

I’m okay
here—

sailing the dark
Atlantic,
fasting at
isolating
heights.

It’s rocky,
misty,
and dim—

but allemansrätten
lies

beneath
her cloak,

widening
to share,
heal,
and live.

In another
village—

melodious
bells
of old

contrast
Elisa’s
tiny cries,

which pierced
the night.

La ruota
degli esposti—
the brink,

cold, fragile,
but safe—

to nestle
nurse for milk.

this wheel is

like the oaks,
exchanging

signals
root to root.

I lay
my ear to the
ground

they whisper:

“dúchas“

while the bell chimes

She’s here.

______________________________

allemansrätten – A unique Swedish principle, literally “every man’s right,” referring to the freedom to roam and access nature regardless of land ownership.

la ruota degli esposti – Italian for “the wheel of the exposed,” a rotating mechanism in church walls used to anonymously leave infants in 18th–19th century Italy, while alerting a priest with a bell.

dúchas – Irish, refers to an instinctual, spiritual sense of belonging to the land where a person is from, including inherited traits from the people and culture.