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Human in the LoopJonathan Harrell’s Commonplace Book

Out in the pine woods
He and I built a secret place—
A perfect shelter
Out of branches
And rope.

In its shadow,
We’d whisper secrets,
Give each other names,
Let the rain wash over us
Without a single drop getting through.

But we didn’t hide that place well enough.
We went back to find it,
And it was gone,
Branches scattered,
Rope cut.

Secrets don’t hold forever.
Not in those woods, at least,
And the knots
I thought were tight enough
Didn’t hold.

View from a covered porch looking out at a rural property with two brightly colored barns, one red and the other yellow, with green roofs. Wind chimes hang from the porch ceiling, and the surrounding landscape includes gravel paths, bare bushes, and a backdrop of trees beneath a cloudy sky.