Haitian-born poet Jerrice J. Baptiste allows us a space to breathe and be still with her phenomenal poem “Pilgrim”. Even the depth of the poem’s spacing and layout gives the reader space to pause, to rest a bit. In Jerrice’s “Pilgrim” simplicity and slowness are warranted the gravity they deserve. Jerrice told The Dewdrop, “‘Pilgrim’ tells of the universal truth that we’re all searching for that sacred space to be. The poem hints at a temple where we can enter, let go and just be. It also mentions how sacred the natural word around us is a part of the connectedness.”
Pilgrim
Enter here————bare feet
hands in prayer—-folded in silence
sit
sacrum and spine lean back
———-feet and legs crossed
rest
———ceremoniously
heart hums—resonance of
letting go
let go.
———Summer rain bubbling in bark outside
second year
caterpillar pilgrims crawl
the temple
———sacred space for all.
Enter here——fold in silence.
———Enter.

Jerrice J. Baptiste
Jerrice J. Baptiste is a poet born in Haiti, the author of eight books and a forthcoming book Coral in The Diaspora (Abode Press, August 2024). Her poetry has been published and forthcoming in The Dewdrop; Urthona: Buddhism & Art, Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & The Arts, Artemis Journal, The Yale Review, Mantis, Poetica Review, The Banyan Review, Kosmos Journal, The Caribbean Writer. Jerrice was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2024; as Best of the Net for 2022 by Blue Stem. Her poetry and collaborative song-writing are on the Grammy award nominated album- Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti.
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