Poetry,

when read aloud,

is soundless as it seeps through

skin to soul

burrowing deep beneath what

is already there to welcome

it home.

It is mother, well loved;

father and innocence;

teacher.

Lover.

It is a new,

treasured old friend,

leading, for the first time,

to some familiar place

where there is rest

and nourishment

and friends

and wisdom

and solitude.