picture the goats leaping
ramp to ramp on a farm
clip-clopping on steady hooves.
avoid stumbling, more certain
of their steps than gravity
Almost as if not studying
the ground, but there lives
a confidence in knowing.
note the horns curled
into a clanging strength.
how else can you batter
every wall with steady
patience, or find your way
on wavering terrain, shift
on the land that send you
crashing or tumbling when
you raise your chest, point
your muzzle toward wind
yet find the hard earth, simple
elements raising a gritty temple.
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Tara Betts is the author of two poetry collections, Break the Habit and Arc & Hue. She also worked as an editor on The Beiging of America and the critical edition of Philippa Duke Schuyler’s Adventures in Black and White. Her writing has appeared in Cicada, Near Kin: A Collection of Words and Art Inspired by Octavia Estelle Butler, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, and the Hugo-nominated and LOCUS Award-winning Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler.