Learning

 

I wish I could capture nature

Which isn’t right, I want to cooperate

To live in harmony,

Which modern poets say we cannot do

I want to find the metaphor

That catches all I see

And it must come through nature’s voice

And ear and eye

 

Not mine

For the mentor is out there

To tutor me inside

 

The sky, the leaf, the chlorophyll

The classroom of a cell

Time is the tuition

Finding what is ultimately real

The assignment

 

I know what is in the room is real, though

The cells are stable, and so

Much never moves

I can learn here, too

Through darkness on pale leaves

And don’t think that I’m ungrateful

To have life and the moments

 

But, yes, the better teacher’s out there

So the transcendentalists thought, and they

Were right

I should be outside

Playing

Walking if not running

Or sitting still to let the air present a better lecture

Than I’ll ever hear inside

 

I’m learning

I’m in love

The world and I will never be the same

Catch me

I’m on a current, and

The wind will make it hard for me to return

 

 

C L Couch

 

 

(image–“404” when I tried to track for attribution)