One day,
A girl looked out her window and realized
The meaning of what she hadn’t noticed before -
Of blood’s faint tang,
Of the clicking clock on the wall,
Of spring roots churning the soil,
Of water penetrating the Earth,
Of distant cities belighting themselves with people,
Of farmland whispering its secrets to the wind,
Of rosy smiles or mumbled scowls in quiet homes.
She realized the breadth and length of all her limbs
And the breadth and length of her mother’s womb,
Her father’s back and his strong hands,
She realized the circumference of her eyes
As if she held them in her palm.
So she went outside and she yelled
To the yellow flowers and the fir tree
Mammoth against the sky
Don’t, don’t let me die,
Even if I went to death in flames
Like a doomed maple leaf,
Even if my blood gave life to the ground,
Sinking into it and watering it,
Don’t, don’t let me die.