Song of the Earth

Song of the Earth

1.

We knew it already, but here:

fish too 

at dawn and at dusk

sing in chorus  

like birds.

Outside of the sea we whisper 

what they speak

beneath:

beautiful the sunrise when sweet dawn breaks

blissful the sighless heart.

2.

yellow.

yellow of the field. 

yellow of citron.

yellow of clenched fist.

reed yellow

of your wicker cage

I inhabit

and sing.

the voice emerges

like honey thick 

dripping

from the mouth

finds the whisper of lapping water

the sound of the boat

the engine turning over  

the blue crumb of water

which circles me and endlessly

whirls

3. 

Did you know tamarisks also bloom?

On the smallest branches small pink petals flare up

each one song of praise

of the humble in the ephemeral.

4. 

Aerodynamically

the bee’s body 

wasn’t designed for flight.

Luckily

no one told it.

5.

Sitting on the stone wall

I felt a presence 

a fragrance behind me and turned

and saw

the blooming gardenia

submerged in deepest shade.

Did you call me in your intoxicating voice?

Our attraction to flowers

originates

within the plants themselves.

Motionless wordless rooted to the world

they wish compel the Other

to come to them.

They play with the wind.

They invite and entice us  

with their own beauty

their form tenderness

brilliance harmony

their flesh the fragrance.

An insect burrows seeking food

and pollinates.

And we bend

to touch or caress or cut.

6. 

behind them are those who planted

and those who cultivated 

and those who harvested

Last are the nothings

—like me—

prattlers

who only speak in words

7. 

Words of words, Matsi said.

And words of all words.