“Ambivalent” by Isabella Bott

Image by freepik

As the seasons pass I feel like a mirror as they are reflected on me.

Spring flourishes, as roots grow out of my feet 

and plant me to the ground while flowers bloom in my hair.

The rain that comes with melts me into the dirt, now turned into mud.

I am pulled from the mud as it dries over and the birds sing at my return.

Summer comes around and it makes me glow.

It hurts to glow and I wish I could move out of the sun but my roots

like it here, and I love my roots.

Autumn tugs at my heart as the fallen leaves constructed my very soul.

The wind, a distant friend, tries to make its way under

my skin to take me away.

But I cannot leave, I am rooted here, I must stay.

Winter makes my cheeks red as the wind quickly turns into foe.

Snow sticks to the husks of dead flowers in my hair

as I desperately try to move out of the cold without harming my roots.

Though they cry and strain against me, so I stay put.

The seasons change me, but I can never escape them.

If only the wind understood why I could not go wherever it took me, 

or the flowers knew why I could not shield them from the cold.

I start to fear that my roots will one day turn to metal,

but by the time the thought crosses my mind, it is spring again.

Isabella Bott is a first-year LSWA student. She enjoys writing poems and short stories in her spare time. She plans on returning for a second year to expand her knowledge of writing and the arts.

Instagram: @isabella.bott.1