Lavender Ellison

Phoenix was always too busy for me.

Too many people, too much going on.

The need to escape was constant-

My writing had no inspiration,

Amid all the heat and the noise.

So, at age 23, I got in my car,

Grabbing only some clothes and a journal.

And I drove all around to search for my muse

And a place that was quiet and calm.

I stopped in Spoon River, and just couldn't leave.

It was everything I'd always wanted,

As if Spoon River was simply waiting for me to come along.

I looked down the main street and up at the trees,

And let my ideas flood onto the page.

And this feeling continued for many long years:

This feeling of acceptance, and knowing who I was;

Of observing details and noticing life.

The world was alive and brighter,

Yet quieter all the same.

For the first time, the world was true.

And it all flowed through me, and my pen.

I started a newspaper and wrote books of poems.

And the one time I left was in sleep.