Hillsboro House – Alexis Draut

Hillsboro House

I can do no wrong
but my body still
feels like it doesn’t belong to me.

It doesn’t matter how
I decide what I want to believe,
because truth will always
inhabit the air
of my being.

It doesn’t matter where I
grow into the fullness of a life,
for I will always remember
the first morning
of my childhood:

The sun goldening the living room,
Zack on the window chair, patterned
carpet and I am in love with a yesterday
I never knew and every bird who
ever dares to wake up
this compassionate sleeper.

Alexis Draut is a native Kentuckian, born and raised in both Louisville and Danville, KY. She heavily associates with her sense of place, whether that be her homes in Kentucky, Georgia, Colorado or New Zealand. She became interested in poetry and creative writing at a young age, has taken classes, and participated in poetry groups as well as writing workshops. Her writing heavily revolves around her passions for social justice, gender equality, environmental preservation, spiritual curiosity, the earth, and nonviolence. Her favorite pastimes besides writing are reading, water coloring, gardening, swimming, tide pooling and listening to Brandi Carlile. While Alexis is a newly public poet, she has recently been published in Buddy, a lit zine with her piece “lost”, Jenny Mag (YSU Literary) with “Norfolk pine”, and Havik Anthology with “earthquake.”