On The Surface by Valerie Parente

I would very much
not like to be the person
that only cares
for what’s on the surface.

but this terrain is bumpy
and full of craters
while the whole world
remains my neighbor.

and I’m prone to circles
that go round and round
while I watch a layer
far above the ground.

I don’t want skin deep
I want profound
maybe it’s time to dig up
what’s been underground.

These words in me
they’ve been alive
so I ramble nonsense
to the naked eye.

I don’t know what I mean
until the retrospect
and I trust my subconscious
in all its depths.

There’s so much meaning and purpose and value and pride
and that’s not what you get on the surface of a mind.

– Valerie Parente (3-30-2021)