Crack open the shell you have 

     built for yourself.

Follow the path that the birds 

     have left.

Not the sodden track

     of long mildewed bread.

It’s the trail of seeds 

     scattered by beaks.

Their tiny green sprouts will

     show you the way.

Lauren McLean Ayer is a San Francisco-grown poet and writer who recently moved to Santa Fe to find peace in the desert. Her poems have appeared in Gargoyle Magazine, Santa Fe oneheart, Adobe Walls, and online.