Roots

A Snarled Web

Shedding Roots, acrylic by artist Michelle Lindblom

Roots
move in directions
unforeseen
reckless
spontaneous.
Sometimes plotted and forged.

Much like life.

Who's to say
which directions are right
or wrong?

Assessing
without knowing the backstory.

My roots
reveal a snarled web.
A complex system
of surrender
and unintentional abandonment.

Life’s twists and turns
taking hold of
young souls.

Creating complications that
were justified
but not understood.

Judgment
and stubbornness takes hold
at the expense of compassion.

Those roots are embedded
in my soul.
I carry on
knowing the context.

Unsnarling the web.

This poem is a precursor to an article I have been writing and cannot seem to resolve toward a conclusion. It is about my mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather. It is complicated, but one I feel compelled to write. As always, I have too much to say and not the right words to make it palatable for my readers without writing a novel. Monkey mind and ancestry.com.

I felt the need to get something out into the public sphere as a provocation to get the article done. The poem structure helps me clarify my thoughts using minimal words in a minimal space.

I write to soothe my soul, to reveal what my subconscious needs to bring to the surface. Sometimes, it becomes too much. This is also the sole reason why I create art. Two acts I need to do every day, or I fall into myself with no exit.

Thank you for reading and following what I have to say in “An Artist’s Journey”.