Decree

Between the hours

of blue heron and red winged

blackbird, wade

in through duckweed: mosquito larva, 

dragonfly larva,

tadpoles claiming space

near ankles and

face the sky.  

Savor sacred energy: 

light, strength, 

source of all food.

Migration reminds:

go forward with warmth,

turn as flowers 

following the sun, stop 

believing excess holds

answers: create space for foundation, 

growth: eat that outright, 

give song like a bird

shade like a bush

bathe in flowing rivers, 

feet sunk in sand.

Trust and remember

between hours of

dove and owl; learn to 

humble.

---

Loralee Clark’s first chapbook, Solemnity Rites, (Prolific Pulse Press, 2025) is an account of reimagined myths and truths of who we are as humans and how we live our histories. She has two chapbooks forthcoming: A Harmony in the Key of Trees: A Healing Myth (Dancing Girl Press, 2025) and Neolithic Imaginings: Mythical Explorations of the Unknown (Kelsay Press, 2026).  Clark resides in Virginia; her website is sites.google.com/view/loraleeclark. Her Substack, which focuses on the process of creativity, is nosuchthingasfailure.substack.com.