“Ache” by Katelyn Dixon
Author: Katelyn Dixon
I felt it first when I was seven,
searching for another world through the forest of my back yard.
Wading in the creek for hours, looking for Narnia,
all I got was a rash on my ankles from some invisible parasite in the water —
but it didn’t stop me from hearing the call: from heeding the siren song of desire
serenading me out to wander beneath the stars.
If you were to know me by a single truth, it would be this:
I have been looking for Narnia ever since.
The longing for a place I’ve never been,
a beauty that has always been just out of reach,
does not abate, but surges and deepens with age —
wave after wave, it baptizes me.
If I were to know you by a single truth, what would it be?
What would you tell me, to tell me who you are?
Do not tell me what you do to earn money —
we do not have time for that.
Even defining who you are in relation to another
falls short of the glory for which you were made.
Longing one, thirsty one, take my hand.
If you, too, drink deeply at the well of longing,
but find it only heightens your thirst,
transforming the waters of want
into the dark wine of desperation,
then we belong together.
Tell me what you long for, and I will tell you your name.
Featured in: The Lighter Weight of Being
The Lighter Weight of Being is the culminating multimedia and interactive event for the 2025 - 2026 Resilient Artist cohort.
