in honor of Earth Day.

***

Things in the Wild Need Salt

Of the many histories, Earth tells only one–
Earth misses many things people tell about,
like maybe there are earthquakes that we should have had,
or animals that know more love than God ever felt.

And we need these things: things in the wild need salt.

Once in a cave a little bar of light
fell into my hand. The walls leaned over me.
I carried it outside to let the stars look;
they peered in my hand. Stars are like that.

Do not be afraid–I no longer carry it.
But when I see a face now, splinters of that light
fall and won’t go out, no matter how faint
the buried star shines back there in the cave.

It is in the earth wherever I walk.
It is in the earth wherever I walk.

– William Stafford