Help
Sign In
poetry
September 2009 
not to worry
Posted on Sep 3rd, 2009
by 
mary
mary
not to worry
i am stump and earth and toad
a morsel of dirt
not fit for mortal man
with his society-ways
and nose for looking down over
at the sick and untouchables beneath
like me
too close for comfort
but not to worry
this is where i belong
down here, beneath the stampede
where i am one with the sweet earth
where none can contain me
and none can deny me
though so far beneath notice am i
that few will try
but not to worry
i will have all of Life
suck the marrow from her bones
and return mine to her
for the same favor, when i have supped my fill
and slipped into the darkness
and the warm fecundity
between her bloody thighs
and the frozen wasteland beyond
so not to worry, my dear friend
it is all fine and wonderful
no matter how long in tooth
or how unpalatable my appearance
or my being, to another living soul
i stand tall enough to nest birds in my hair
i do not drink where there is no water
nor beg for scraps
nor take those offered
not even when my belly gnarls my spine
for as long as Life burns inside me
and warms this dough rising
pumps the bellows, stirs the ashes
and sings through these holy rafters
well then, friend
nothing can be added
nor taken away
and there's nowhere to fall from here
there is only the wind
come chiming off the mountain
to dance me tumbling to the stars
where i am already home
i am stump and earth and toad
a morsel of dirt
not fit for mortal man
with his society-ways
and nose for looking down over
at the sick and untouchables beneath
like me
too close for comfort
but not to worry
this is where i belong
down here, beneath the stampede
where i am one with the sweet earth
where none can contain me
and none can deny me
though so far beneath notice am i
that few will try
but not to worry
i will have all of Life
suck the marrow from her bones
and return mine to her
for the same favor, when i have supped my fill
and slipped into the darkness
and the warm fecundity
between her bloody thighs
and the frozen wasteland beyond
so not to worry, my dear friend
it is all fine and wonderful
no matter how long in tooth
or how unpalatable my appearance
or my being, to another living soul
i stand tall enough to nest birds in my hair
i do not drink where there is no water
nor beg for scraps
nor take those offered
not even when my belly gnarls my spine
for as long as Life burns inside me
and warms this dough rising
pumps the bellows, stirs the ashes
and sings through these holy rafters
well then, friend
nothing can be added
nor taken away
and there's nowhere to fall from here
there is only the wind
come chiming off the mountain
to dance me tumbling to the stars
where i am already home
Access: PublicTagged with: poetry
