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paradise

paradise
by Teresa Williams

Photo by Sarah Anne Childers

paradise

is the moment
you realize
you've never been
apart from it

it is the bookstore
on Tuesdays     scent of scones
and word blossoms
it is the dahlia     autumn lantern
the warm mug in your hand
it is all this exchanging
of light     hello and goodbye and
how are you

it is the decision you make
to let it all in

the rainbows     the dead crow
the hurt knee
a black cloud in the face
your incapacities     your strengths
hurricanes and earthquakes
even deep down pain
the kind that wants to hide
behind hate

when
everything belongs
paradise
isn't somewhere else

it is here
it is us

it is loving
Life itself. 


A poet, translator, and psychotherapist, Teresa Williams loves the way inner and outer landscapes come together with the bridge of beautiful language. Her poetry has been featured in: Psychological Perspectives JournalBuddhist Poetry ReviewVine Leaves Literary Journal, and A Hundred Gourds. She has a chapbook of translated poems, Tailor ShopThreads by the Uruguayan poet, Laura Cesarco Eglin, Finishing Line Press.