PENANCE AT FÁTIMA, CAMINHO PORTUGUÊS

 

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i.

 

my arms are made of olive branches,

my bones of trees, lined with red poppies

& wild grape vines

 

cleanse me of hopelessness

 

make me an instrument of my name

make me a conduit of a future
where the water belongs to us all

 

ii.

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i crawl across the concrete on my knees
                       not to beg
but to give myself over to you
completely

             when i hand over the wheel,

you have moved my feet

across mountains

  

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​​BIO: 

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Terra Oliveira is a writer and visual artist from the San Francisco Bay Area, and the founding editor of Recenter Press. Her poems have been published in The American Poetry Review, Bamboo Ridge, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. During the week, you can find her managing two bookstores in the North Bay. Her poetry book, Itinerant Songs, will be out this July.