Shiver

If she turned her face to catch

July's evening breeze deft and dry,

She felt shiver of great happiness

When she sat in empty dining hall

Of settlement house and sensed 

Many souls, she felt shiver

Of great happiness

As she stood inside hangar

And looked through gridded, wired glass

To expanding field beyond,

She felt shiver of great happiness

When she boarded vintage plane

And touched bright chrome bracing

Its black leather seats, she felt

Shiver of great happiness

As she nestled in hollowed-out tree,

Its interior lichen papered,

Its floor self-certain packed earth,

She felt shiver of great happiness

When she encountered snow berms

At forest's edge, and smoothed icy

Fairy hallows with mittened hands,

She felt shiver of great happiness

recognize yourself as an eternal person

Laura Stickney 2023

Notes:

settlement house is Hull House in Chicago

hallows means holy

photograph by Laura Stickney