Diana Raab

A CREATIVE BATH

The mudslides promise lotuses
as I wait for their arrival.

The birds rarely peeking through
olive skinned surfaces.

I feel a rumbling
as I devour books for direction.

Seeking solitude for healing
and suddenly pulled to soul survivors.

There’s a simmering beneath my surface,
avoiding superficiality

and craving with a seeker’s curiosity
what lies on forbidden paths.

My psyche feels responsible for this creative bath,
bubbles of unknown origin—

some to evaporate, others to blossom.
There continues to be unknowns

or whether mud bestows
our community with beautiful lotuses.

Diana Raab, MFA, PhD, is a memoirist, poet, workshop leader, thought-leader and award-winning author of 14 books and editor of three anthologies. Her work has been widely published and anthologized. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She frequently speaks and writes on writing for healing and transformation. Her latest book is an anthology called, Women in A Golden State: California Poets at 60 and Beyond (Gunpowder Press, 2025). Her newest memoir is Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors (Modern History Press, 2024). Raab writes for Psychology Today, The Good Men Project, Sixty and Me, Medium, and is a guest writer for many others. Visit: https:/www.dianaraab.com.