Sing to flower fairies

for every letter of the alphabet

especially for the fuchsia fairy

Sing to reading and rereading

every

single

page

Sing to staying out

as long as possible

each summer solstice

trying to spot just one

Sing to knowing they were all hiding

just beyond sight

Sing to fairy houses

constructed in schoolyards and parks

Sing to increasingly complex camouflage

trying to hide sand and twig and leaf dwellings

Still the other kids destroyed them each day

Destruction always follows Creation follows Destruction

we built another for each fairy cottage kicked apart

Sing to forgiveness of youth

Sing to belief

Sing to clinging

Sing to insisting 

swearing 

knowing 

magic 

could 

should 

does 

exist

Sing to putting fairyologist on my resume

still my specialty even now

Sing to I believe in fairies

Sing to believing so hard it becomes true

Sing to growing older but never wiser

Sing to flower fairies

---

Natalie C. Smith works outside as a mail carrier in Colorado. She leans into the meditative aspect of walking her route to consider turns of phrase and finds inspiration while being surrounded by nature during her day job. Natalie is a poet, spoken word and studio artist. She is a creator in many mediums and loves to dabble. When not creating, she enjoys rock climbing and hiking. 

Natalie draws poetic inspiration from the works of Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, Hala Alyan and Amy Kay (@amykaypoetry). Natalie participates in National Poetry Writing Month or NaPoWriMo every April and has been heavily inspired by Amy Kay’s daily prompts and the poetry community that has rallied around her account. 

Natalie’s poems have been published in several publications including Beyond Worship: Meditations on Queer Worship, Liturgy, & Theology, Michigan's Best Emerging Poets, The Poetry Lighthouse, and The Aquinas Sampler. 

Find her on Instagram @Natalie.C.Wordsmith