Sanctuary
A poem by Judith Waller Carroll

Sanctuary
“Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.” —Joseph Campbell

So many times
you’ve mistaken quiet for boredom,
down time for laziness,
always driven to do something useful,
certain that peace can only be found
when the stars are aligned
and the location perfect—
a candle-lit room at the edge
of a forest, a wind-swept ridge
overlooking the ocean.
But you are here, in your own backyard,
with bright yellow tulips
and the scent of wisteria.
Soon the world will burst in
with its cold shower of bad news,
but now there is only the crisp morning air.
The simple grace of this new day.

About the Author:

Judith Waller Carroll’s poems have been featured on Verse Daily and The Writer’s Almanac, published in numerous journals and anthologies, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Ordinary Splendor (MoonPath Press 2022) and What You Saw and Still Remember, a runner-up for the 2017 Main Street Rag Poetry Award. Her chapbook The Consolation of Roses, won the 2015 Astounding Beauty Ruffian Press Poetry Prize.

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