I just wanna touch the earth

yearning & other dangerous acts

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The “Yearning & Other Dangerous Acts” series is a devotional to desire & nature. Each piece begins with a longing so deep it fractures reality, letting the mythic leak through.

In ten parts, I float down the river of yearning: I Just Wanna Eat the Sun, I Just Wanna See the Air, I Just Wanna Kiss the Moon, I Just Wanna Touch the Earth, I Just Wanna Drink the Sea, I Just Wanna Steal the Stars, I Just Wanna Braid the River’s Hair, I Just Wanna Bury My Heart in the Garden, I Just Wanna Howl at the Moon with the Wolves, I Just Wanna Set the Sky on Fire.

Receive these poems as acts of becoming. Of setting yourself aflame in order to know what it means to burn, and still bloom.

Welcome to the yearning. Step in barefoot, read it loud, scream if you need to.
Above all, want freely.

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Dolce far Niente, John William Godward, 1904

i just wanna touch the earth.
i want my magical touch to heal her pain.
i just wanna touch the earth.
i wanna run out of the house, never looking back,
on a day when pain is no more.
i don’t wanna look back.

i just wanna touch the earth.
i want the sun to be out.
i want the grass to glow silver
and dance salsa in the wind.

i just wanna touch the earth.
i wanna lay on her
she’s the one growing magical hands this time,
hugging me, pulling me in.
i wanna be one with the earth.

i want her to be wet and fertile from the rain.
i just wanna touch the earth.
i wanna roll down a hill onto a beach,
let warm sand cover my whole body.

i just wanna touch the earth.
i want to run and run until i can run no more,
be still until roots grow out of my feet
and hug her core.

i just wanna touch the earth.
i wanna caress her
until she decides to laugh through me
and i bloom and bloom,
fiery red or rosy pink,
until i smell green.

i just wanna touch the earth,
from winter to spring,
lay my face on the grass
and hear her speak:

“welcome back”