Stand

I stand still in the woods, taking my time To gather up the evidence of life Around me, being witness to the day That holds me, letting every tree and bird Reprove me, move me closer to a way To reconcile my foot of space on earth, To know there is no richer place on earth Than where I stand at any given time, Nor given time is there a better way To understand the earthiness of life Than standing by a tree, seeing a bird Defying gravity, stretching its day Heavenward, then with each passing day Returning humbly to its rooted earth For food, for rest, for giving birth; this bird, With every beast and bloom of anytime, Takes part in a community of life, Sharing one space and orbiting one way Around a single sun: so on this way Of revolutions, in this timeless day Among this great epitome of life, I take my quiet stand upon the earth That I may share this place as long as time Will be defied, as long as tree and bird Commune with me, and I can hear the bird Communicating heaven in a way No other creature can, replaying time Repeatedly, reflecting every day From its perspective perched above the earth By singing out its evidence of life; I feel that song, though I must live the life Of one who cannot be the flying bird; I hold my ground, though I am of the earth Without the slightest chance to spin away; I stand still in one place to see the day Unrushed, though I am running out of time, But still I stand, with time to look at life, To live through every day, to watch a bird Show me the way it lets go of the earth.


from Thirty Birds