Notice how the earth
\nholds us to her,
\nas if she were jealous,
\nas though nothing eludes her,
\nas if we were her only love.
\nSo it is, my love,
\nI hold you,
\na flower coming from the improbable hardness
\nof the stone,
\nof the salts and quartz,
\nthe sand laid like bracelets
\non the shore,
\ncoming up from the wet darkness,
\nthe redolent mulch and decay.
\nSo from earth,
\nfrom her wide soul,
\nher heart of nickel and iron,
\nand the endless train of nights
\nand dragon rides around the sun.<\/p>\n
She holds us my love,
\nas I hold you,
\nfrom the dark remaking of my breath.
\nHow do petals come from the cold?
\nHow does earth cover us with rain,
\nand we grow as small vines,
\nreaching round and round
\nthe lattice of life?
\nEntwined,
\nembracing,
\nuntil we flower in her wet face,
\nfeeling her gray smile of clouds and wind.<\/p>\n
And in the archipelago of life,
\nthe islands of our years,
\nleave us unprepared
\nfor the epiphany of each other.
\nHow does love come from stone?
\nHow hard the embrace of earth!
\nHow gentle we are with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Notice how the earth holds us to her, as if she were jealous, as though nothing eludes her, as if we were her only love.…<\/p>\n