The Hudson River Diaries

A Compendium of Poetry and Natural History

gleaned from observations in and around Sparkill, New York

Hawkweed

Let my feet dig into the earth,

Earth on stone, stone on bedrock

Valleys sifting water through the arrowroot

 

Here, where I forget again, as always

Hawkweed spills down off grassy lawns

In celebration of the small joys of life

 

Spider-blossom, tiger lily

Ground hogs fat upon the land

There is no sorrow here- it's on the river bank

Waiting for the flood tide to lift it, take it home

 

We must, I think

I sense, I feel

Stand tall and shine our yellow eyes back at the sun

Give our backbones into the steady task of pressing up

Against the force of our mortality

 

If the mown grass can stand

And flowers bend their heads against a summer rain

And we hold this in our hearts in prayer

The words made flesh in substance

Are no longer words

 

2009 

All material copyright 2011 by Lee van Laer. Do not reproduce without permission.