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Everything in and on the earth is earth.
Moving and still, rooted and rebellious,
all who accept and all who try to leave.
No matter how we project into space,
we cannot be not earth. And after death
earth swallows us, root and bone and ashes
and all. Dead or alive we have a home
that is also home to God and delight:
cold and warm noses, smooth skin and rough,
many leg-ged and two-leg-ged and no
leg-ged, and swimmers, crawlers, fliers, and
rainbows of color, prisms of water,
in and out doors and sides and air and stones,
what each can sense or each cannot. Is it
possible for humans to list every
thing from every thing’s point of view?
Imagine spending life trying to know
and, failing that, trying to sense the earth
our home, the God our home, the life that’s ours
by watching robins graze on lawns or doves
peck on window ledges, or paint peel off
old walls, or drops of water fall, or trees
grow, clouds move, seasons change, and children play.
Everything in and on the earth is earth.
Moving and still, rooted and rebellious,
all who accept and all who try to leave.
Won’t you take my hand and stay awhile, to
breathe in this belove-ed community?
Your words are full of truth and wisdom, Susan: I am happy to share in this fellowship of earth!
ReplyDeleteI love this poem, which reminds me that I will be buried in the Tofino cemetery, and so will remain in my heart's home forever. I love your closing invitation to share space in the beloved community. And am also reminded how the indigenous people look at everything from other creatures' viewpoints, from the lowly skunk cabbage, to the slug, to the whales and wolves and ravens........so strong is their respect for the rights of other living beings. We can learn so much from this.
ReplyDeleteThat's really good. Such honest truth and such vibrant imagery. You are absolutely right. Everything on earth is of the earth. Such a profound truth but one that so many choose to ignore.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, like a prayer.
ReplyDeleteChristian burial - a body shot with embalming permanence and stuffed into a concrete vault, impregnable to earthly decay -- sure seems to be the crux of human difficulty accepting and even embracing (as here) the forest of life we are. It is not possible "to list every thing from every thing's point of view," but what project! Like the monk who sought to prove the magnitude of God by spooning out the sea. I guess there's room on this Earth for its terrible fools, but its hard to see it improved in any way by our presence.
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