What Sustains - Mark Nepo

[Larry Robinson]

What Sustains
 
 
the more I am hollowed
 
by the fire, the more my ribs
 
spread like the tree of life.
 
 
 
the more I am washed
 
by the tears of others, the more
 
my heart rounds like an ocean shell.
 
 
 
the more stories I tell
 
of how one picks up another,
 
the more my hands open
 
like scoops of grain.
 
 
 
To be what others drink,
 
To be what others stand on
 
To reach what they love–
 
We should be so lucky
 
to be worn by this.


	- Mark Nepo