Advice for the Long Walk Home

By Sheila Dougal

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Plant your life like a winter garden 
Before frost hardens the earth
Understand it will cause trouble
There’s rubble and thorn, 
Weeds that must be pulled 
Others left to propagate, 
Even among the patient plants, 
Lest they grow tired of their 
Circumstance and loosen their roots

Plant a garden where your 
Companion has plans for walls
Though a garrison stands ready
To keep mercy out. March round
Side by side, this tent, a fortress 
Tangled in your friend’s shield 
Of arguments. Keep planting 
Round the walls 

The hawks are circling, 
Screeching, ready to steal 
The younglings hatched under 
The shade of the olive trees
Gather them under your wings
Sparrows flutter in the breeze 
Singing songs of home in the sissoo trees
​
Try not to forget the way is planted
With gardens among the ruins
Lives descending into the dirt, between 
Jagged walls of hurt
The cost is great 
The pace is 
Walk and wait

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Sheila Dougal lives in the low deserts of Arizona with her husband and sons. Some of her poetry and essays are published at Fathom Mag, Clayjar Review, The Gospel Coalition, The Joyful Life Magazine and other publications. You can also find her at her blog, Cultivating Faithfulness, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Sheila's other work on Foreshadow:
Descent (Poetry, June 2023)
Ode to the Day (Poetry, July 2023)
Invitation (Poetry, August 2023)