when my step is gracious
and easy, wanting nothing
but the ground,
the earth’s womb
gives birth to me
into every life,
into yours, mine, or one in taiwan,
that of the nun, the farmer, of the wild woman,
hundreds, thousands, ten thousands of years ago.
i walk in their kitchen, bathroom,
by their hearth and well,
swallow the taste in their mouth
and feel their clothes on my skin.
lights, immersed into
the darkness of the times,
of the future or the past.
the earth infused
by a shining net.
my gaze dissolves
into twilight, a bright tremor
shakes my heart.
maybe this is
a fantasy,
but that doesn’t matter:
we all are.
walk on, and let
the fragrance
of the moist soil flood you:
“under-standing”, that
is being earth.