W. Berry

in the stillness

of the trees

by Roberto Lavidez

I have come

to the end

of what

I have

supposed

following

my thread

of song

I am done

with apologies

if contrariness

is my

inheritance

and destiny

so be it

the mind

still hungers

for its earth

its bounded

and open

space

the term of

its final

assent

I come

into the

peace of

wild things

who do not

tax their

lives with

forethought

of grief

to imagine the

thoughtlessness

of a thoughtless

thing is

useless

the world

is greater

than its

words

to speak

of it

the mind

must bend

and so

as the old

lie and

the young

depart

where shall

a man go

who keeps

the memories

of the dead

suddenly

I know

I have

passed

across to

a shore

where I

do not

live

I’ve lived

in two

countries

in my life

and never

moved

it is

dangerous

to remember

the past

only for

its own sake

dangerous

to deliver

a message

that you

did not get

man has

put his

history

to sleep in

the engine

of doom

terrors are

to come

the earth

is poisoned

with narrow

lives

to be sane

in a mad

time

is bad

for the

brain

worse for

the heart

we’ve

come round

again to

short days

and long

nights

time goes

that there’s

a little

of the good

left over

from a

few lives

is a comfort

of sorts

in the

stillness

of the trees

I am 

at home

©robertolavidez2014