the world is medicine
by ire’ne lara silva

let it in
the sunshine the rain the wind the lightning
eat the raw
eat the stones and eat the marrow
eat the warmth on your skin
and the words the sun is writing
eat the scent of the earth after rain
eat the storm the thunder rumbling inside

this is how you grow strong
be the roar be the keening
be the screaming be the running
be louder
be the wind be the trees growing tall
be the word be the day be the knife
be the hot rush of blood
be the clouds
be the electric spill of blooming
flowers in the desert

begin
and end with water
never forget
the ocean lives inside us
the rivers take us
where our ancestors
walked
our bodies still ebb and flow
with the tides
there is no joy like the joy of the body
suspended in water weightless and fierce
water is life
drink it in
touch the world eat the world be the world
the world is medicine

let
it in

ire’ne lara silva, “the world is medicine.” From blood sugar canto. Saddle Road Press, 2016. Suggested by Phillip Barrish, Professor of English and Associate Director for Health and Humanities, UT Humanities Institute.