Brian’sPoems

Waiting, Listening, Opening

For the men of MN MALES

And so I have finally come
to where I sit by these rocks,
which have been waiting eons
for my unassuming arrival.

“Come closer,” they say.
“Sit down and stay awhile.
Let us tell you the story
of our birth in the great fires
a hundred million years ago.”

I do as they say.
There’s no need for me to speak.
I learn by resting patiently
and watching carefully
the ways birds come and go
while the sun moves higher,
first warming the tiny salamanders,
then cooling them in its shadows.

I stay a bit longer
so I may learn some more.

One month,
two months,
three months pass.
I feel my burden easing.
The rocks offer me their perspectives,
unconstrained by my ideas of time
and my inability to fully comprehend
the ongoing history of all life.

As I depart I hear them say,
“Come again, we’ll be waiting.”