Deciduous
Days like today
I could let it all go.
Release ambition
like a balloon floating
into someone else’s
yard. Let the radio
keep its death toll
and speeches. I will give
myself to what will answer
with blossom and fruit.
Could I die back?
Could I be mere twigs,
waiting? Give me
light, rain, a piece of ground.
Here I might remember
the prayer of silence, practice
one thing until done well,
heal what lies
within reach.
-Elizabeth Austen
I wrote this at the start of the Iraq war.