We are made to speak with the earth,
Soles to press to loam,
Skin to sing the pure vibrations,
Tongue to taste the curling air
that bears the tale of everything alive

We are made to speak with the earth,
Eyes as emissaries, catching shafts of light,
relaying truth of all that lies within —
blue cast in the scent of oceans,
red in sun-warmed soils,
green and russet wetland grasses,
silvers aromatic in pine and sage,
rosemary

This has long been hidden
under roads and floors,
the pictures all presented
through small and separate windows
so we haven’t known
what they all mean together,
haven’t known how they comprise a whole

But still the earth will call us,
pull us out from where
the dry pursuits have trapped us,
Lead us by some image, by some zephyr
to the place that owns us,
to our land.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 13, 2014