Though I read our Lord’s words every night by candlelight, it’s the darker mysteries
I live by. The dipper that rattles the bucket when nobody’s there, smoke from the chimney
of an empty house, or bones gathered in a hollow tree. These are the omens I understand
and heed. I sink so deep in the ribs of these mountains, my listening’s grown sharpened
to shine, my eyes trained for signs, scattered for the seeing.

Child, follow your ripe
compass of sun; follow howls
heard in forests within.

Ellis Elliot’s chapbook Break in the Field was published by Old Scratch Press in June 2023. He has been published in Apricity Magazine, Belle Ombre, Big Muddy, The Broken Plate, Brushfire Literature & Arts Journal, Cerasus Magazine, Cider Press Review, Copperfield Review Quarterly, Courtship of Winds, Dash, The Ear, Euphony Journal, The Ignatian Literary Magazine, and Journal of Undiscovered Poets.