The many tunnels
honeycomb me in
one by one,
I become frozen in deep blue.
I become noisy as a bee cloud.
I become holy like a rooted tree.
The many tunnels
open me into
their skin,
to see the golden lamp, a golden calf
reborn. To believe in the candle who
outweighs, outlives this darkness.
The many tunnels
echo with the heavy
buzz of truth—
a thick noise, snow-like, mysterious as sparkles of light.
A chorus, a gospel, again and again….always knocking, always
echoing, heavy with the buzz of truth.
The many tunnels
go on and on. They hold strong
and sweet
for blessing—a goatskin dewed with promise.
for forgiveness and for no more comparing thoughts
and for silkworms to cocoon my wings.
The many tunnels
show me joy
as they unravel me
to hurl myself into the unknown ,
wade in this heavy pool—to hold
my belief candle high
upon this dark and soon-sacred hill.
Katelyn Durst is a community artist, creative activist, teacher and youth worker. She has worked within urban youth development and urban community development for ten years and has taught poetry for six years, recently conducting poetry therapy workshops at a youth psychiatric hospital, and for Freedom Schools summer programming in a workshop focused on healing from the unjust deaths of youth of color. Katelyn is currently pursuing a master’s in Urban Studies and Community Arts from Eastern University with a focus on trauma-informed art-making to build sustainable and transformative resiliency within urban/inner-city and displaced communities. In her spare time, she dreams of becoming an urban beekeeper. She is poet-in-residence at The Mudroom.
