Just Watch, Listen - Jan Corbett

[Larry Robinson]

Just Watch, Listen

Though the backyard hens complain loudly
as morning grain arrives late,

and my kale and lettuce wilt when water comes at noon,

There is such a forgiving Grace in these little beings.

I can now more easily forgive another 
when he/she forgets to smile, to be kind, caring

for what else is there but
the remembering, forgetting and forgiving

on a planet where arrogant humans dwell
amongst others that kill and sabotage their own species
for being of a different color, a different slant, a supposedly separate entity?

If grasses can reappear each spring, even
after the “most severe” winter icing,
an icing that reaches down to the very core of each blade of grass,

perhaps people can forgive their fellow humans
for their blind stupidity and fear.

Just watch, listen, and lie in the grasses.
The answer is in the very rising of a blade of grass.

	- Jan Corbett