I AM VERTICAL
by Sylvia Plath
But I would rather be horizontal.
I am not a tree with my root in the soil
Sucking up minerals and motherly love
So that each March I may gleam into leaf,
Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed
Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,
Unknowing I must soon unpetal.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal
And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,
And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.
Tonight, in the infinitesimal light of the stars,
The trees and the flowers have been strewing their cool odors.
I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.
Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping
I must most perfectly resemble them --
Thoughts gone dim.
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.
I am of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation(Tsalagi), and the Wind Clan of the Lower Creek Nation (Mvskoke). My ancestors were moved from Georgia to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. I raise wolf-dogs, and if you've ever owned one, or know someone who has, then you know how sweet and intelligent, and misunderstood these animals are.
NON-CONFORMIST - n. One who does not feel compelled to follow or accept traditional beliefs, customs, or practices.
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Life is not measured by the breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
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