Choosing Sides—Jen Rose Yokel

Jen Rose Yokel is a poet, writer, and spiritual director. Her words have appeared at The Rabbit Room, She Reads Truth, and other publications, and she is the author of two poetry collections. She is also the co-founder of The Poetry Pub, an online community for poets. Originally from Central Florida, she now makes her home in Fall River, Massachusetts with her poet/professor husband Chris, their rescue dog, and an assortment of books and houseplants. Her latest book, Beneath the Flood, is available now from Bandersnatch Books. You can find her on Substack at Alongside Journal or on Instagram @jroseyokel.

Choosing Sides

by Jen Rose Yokel

If I have to pick a side,
let me side with the bees, 
with summer blossoms and 
winter snowdrifts.
Let me side with the children 
I know and the ones I don’t, 
with the late-shift nurse
and his aching back,
with the grandmother 
digging in her garden.
Let me side with the earth
in all her sighing, the stars 
in all their singing, with 
stray dogs and street artists, 
with orphans and widows. 
Like Berry,
let me say everything was for 
love of the forest I will never 
see, the harvest I will never 
reap. I pledge my allegiance 
to the world to come.

---

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash