by Laura Parker Roerden
I wrote a poem:
it isn’t much.
It’s small
like a bird,
but it has hands
that reluctantly
open, palms up
to receive
shadow from
starlight
where monsters
writhe and
transform
into angels
through ancient
story and song.
I put the poem
in a simple box
and buried it;
marked it
with a large
stone.
Time can
change
such a thing.
In frost
it heaved,
but still
settled
by summer
when longer
light
kissed it
greedily,
consumed
it, like food
for hope
until
it
was
no
longer
there,
but had become
a generous bed
for a seed
dropped
from the heavens,
watered by regret,
a stalk of evening
primrose,
like a bolt of light,
strong enough
to hold an oriole
or finch seeking
nourishment.
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Laura Parker Roerden is the founding director of Ocean Matters and the former managing editor of Educators for Social Responsibility and New Designs for Youth Development. She serves on the board of Earth, Ltd. and is a member of the Pleiades Network of Women in Sustainability. She lives on her fifth generation family farm in MA.