In Search of Meaning During Allergy Season

Poetry
Written By Ella B. Winters

Twice a year, nature sends me 
a reliable reminder that I am 
a part of it. 
Inhaling particles from 

                     trees, 

      grass,

                   fungal spores, 

dissolves me 
into something less 
than human. Or is it more? 
Do I transform into a whole 
greater than the sum of parts 
when I absorb a little forest? 
Become a bit more 

                        chestnut, 

       rosehip, 

              mould? 

Each segment plays its part, 
but if you       

           break

 it 

                               up,


                examine 


each 


                     component  

in isolation, 

            the meaning              disperses 

on the faintest 

                      breeze. 


So when I start to 

                              melt 

               at season's crossroads, 

I am reminded that I am 
just a bit of pollen, 

                              caught

in the universe's sinus.

Ella B. Winters

Ella B. Winters (she/they) is a social worker, researcher, and writer, living on the South-East coast of England with her partner and their sausage dog. Her poetry often explores themes of identity, memory and belonging. It has been published in The Aftershock Review, Black Iris, Frozen Sea, Full House Literary, Wildscape and elsewhere, and was nominated for the Forward and Pushcart prizes.

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