I could live in a fascist country.
I see that—now that I live in one.
It’s easy to be left alone
once you master a talent
for being quiet, maybe best
called silent. It’s easy
to turn off news
and just
listen for owl calls.
Easy to not see
when you only look
at trees and sunsets.
I’ve been practicing this
for a while now
and so far
my only problem
is looking in the mirror.
Elizabeth Rose, MFA, MS, LICSW, is a psychotherapist, writer, and poetry therapist. She has published essays and opinion pieces in The Boston Globe, Anti-Heroin Chic,Valiant Scribes, Escape, and The Shanti Arts Review. You can find her poetry in BarBar, Verdad, and The New Verse News. She received her MFA in creative non-fiction from Lesley University in 2019. In addition to a psychotherapy practice, she offers “The Poetry of Gratitude: groups to enhance well-being through poetry and community” in Massachusetts.
