“What suggestions of imperturbability and being, as against the human trait of mere seeming….It is, yet says nothing.”  –Walt Whitman, from “The Lesson of the Tree,” Specimen Days

That I could be as satisfied by this soaking rain
as the earth– absorbing until overflowing in rills
or as a tree– whose roots drink deep and long,
        whose branches bend through gusts
        or, breaking, slowly grow callus and gnarl,
        and though a back scratches against its bark
        or arms wrap around its trunk,
        it remains impassive to distraction,
        requiring only rain
        and earth,
        sun and air,
        with centuries
        to live.