The call to be lost in
the wild and untamed bush
is strong
the wild and untamed bush
is strong
x
I long to answer
to let my footsteps
guide me past
Century Plant
and Pinguin
beneath Baobab
and Mahogany
and hanging branch
of Yellow Cedar
all watching me wander
to let my footsteps
guide me past
Century Plant
and Pinguin
beneath Baobab
and Mahogany
and hanging branch
of Yellow Cedar
all watching me wander
x
I’d lay among the
prickle bush and
Catch an Keep
not minding the stickers
in my back
For my time here is
both brief and eternal
I’d feel myself meld with the soil
be taken in by the roots
prickle bush and
Catch an Keep
not minding the stickers
in my back
For my time here is
both brief and eternal
I’d feel myself meld with the soil
be taken in by the roots
to be one
to be land
to be free
to be land
to be free
x
I’m broken from my
reverie by the thought of
jackboots trampling over me
of ugly machines chopping
and blazing down trees
of homes for my children run
through to make room for vultures
eager to pick our home
and bones clean
reverie by the thought of
jackboots trampling over me
of ugly machines chopping
and blazing down trees
of homes for my children run
through to make room for vultures
eager to pick our home
and bones clean
x
So again I hear the call
yet I do not heed the desire
to become lost
instead I let it guide me
towards a big stick
and rock stone:
gifts from the land
and weapons
with the call reminding me
there’s work to be done
yet I do not heed the desire
to become lost
instead I let it guide me
towards a big stick
and rock stone:
gifts from the land
and weapons
with the call reminding me
there’s work to be done
∝
Raven Phillips is a writer from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her work has appeared in the St. John Tradewinds, the V.I. Source, Destination Magazine, The Caribbean Writer, and the Virgin Islands Daily News. Since 2021 she has hosted Rhyme and Lime, a poetry open mic event at Bajo el Sol Gallery in St. John. In January of 2025, Rhyme & Lime released its first poetry anthology, Like Salt and Wet Soil Poems from the Rhyme & Lime, which Phillips edited.
Absolutely beautiful! One of my favorite VI writers!