by Chelsea Fraser
INNER LANDSCAPE: AN INTERRUPTED VERSE
The rolling rhythm pounds inside my head:
Do more. Do more. Do more.
It rings relentless pain and guilt and dread.
Do more. Do more.
I writhe, remember sky and look above
and rail against the rage that boils my blood.
Do more. Do more. Do more.
I close my clustered eyes and breathe my breath.
And chide my chest for beating out my death.
Do more. Do more. Do more.
I catch a call, a clarion chime afar:
Rest. Rest. Rest.
And cup my ear to harken to its bar.
Do more. Rest.
Like ostentation overwhelms the mind,
The overlapping obligations climb.
Do-rest-more Re-do more-st
I open my old hands, their wrinkles bare,
And offer all my honest soul’s despair.
Do-rest-more Do-rest-more
Like water, waiting for the sky to fill:
Do rest. Do rest. Do rest.
And waiting, works its weight into cloud’s will.
Rest more. Rest more.
The world turns without malice, and it bears
both willow and the whale inside its share:
Rest. Rest. Rest.
Like roots that are buried, rest and reach in turn
that ringing rhythm covers my heart’s drum:
Rest. Rest.
Restoring all my head and blood and breath
by reaching deep, redemption’s shibboleth.
Rest. Rest.
My Comforter commands the billows, “Cease.”
Rest. Rest. Rest.
And crowns me with His rooted, quiet peace.
CHELSEA FRASER
Chelsea Fraser is a poet, a songwriter, and a musician. She is the author of a poetry collection, The Mother Tree, and her poetry has been published in The Way Back to Ourselves Literary Journal, Inkwell (formerly Ekstasis Magazine), The Dewdrop, Vessels of Light Journal, Calla Press, Persephone, and others. In Spring 2026, she was awarded a place in the inaugural GVL Poetry Trail in her hometown of Greenville, SC, for her poem, “To Be a Moving Stream.” Chelsea has been a featured poet at several regional events and speaks regularly on poetry, art, and faith.