To my tent
By Jacqui Malins
Published 1 January 2021
Citadel of my temerity, I have
carried you on my back, you have
sheltered me. Escape hatch from
urbanity. Portable hole, bird hide,
sunrise sauna, refuge, forced crouch,
modesty screen, snail shell, budget hotel.
Through taut skin I hear marsupials chew, watch
leafy shadows swim like fish, encase me in
animate light. Just-right capsule for a
wild life. I dive headlong into world,
bathysphere submerged in green
submarine dawn. My chambered
nautilus, you let me be both
voyager and always at home.