Selected Poems by Katie Spring

Gather Together

I don’t want to be
self-sufficient anymore —
how exhausting

Here, let us sow seeds
together, intertwine our roots
carry the bucket

Hand in hand, together
as in to gather
as in community

Let us lighten
each other’s loads, remember
we were made for this

Organic Coral Zinnias growing in the cut flower garden

Root Words

Here, take these words
let them grow like
seeds inside
your heart
let the syllables turn
to roots strong enough
to lift up any song
so when you are grieving
you may wail
when you are ecstatic
you may shout
and when the notes fade
you know
you are held
in the silence
held in the trust
that those root words
will bloom again
writing a healed world
into your hands
giving you seeds
to plant and
make it so

Only Then

Fungi, groundwater
Roots reach where they cannot see
and give birth to blooms

To open you must
dig into darkness, damp earth
twine your life with soil

Only then can light
matter, only then does light
breathe and sustain you