To Begin to Know Soil - Betty Les and Linda Stamps

[Larry Robinson]

To Begin to Know Soil

            For Dan and Rebecca

 

hold it in your hands

rub the clumps and bits between your fingers

see the particles trace your lifeline

 

pour sand through your fingers

ball clay in your palm

rub grit from your eyes

 

inhale the scent of raindrops

filtering through loamy richness

hear the mud ooze

 

consider the life beneath your feet

insects and fungi, voles and moles

fleshy paws paddling darkness

 

think like a tree

the intimacy of roots to soil

soil to water

 

drive by a field of grain

nourished by soil

give thanks to farmers

 

separate clay and rock

that dull the hoe

taste the carrot reborn from seed

 

ponder stone

becoming soil

pluck some wildflowers

 

till thoughts in the garden

embrace decomposition and decay

ponder the vagaries of life

 

imagine soil flying

carried by wind

for hundreds of miles

 

begin to know . . .

 

	- Betty Les and Linda Stamps

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