if a sound could twist into my ear / search for brain /
sink into thought
find cracks of light let in from eyes /
send tiny shoots to eat that light /
push hairs of root to wind about my heart / my lungs /
to bind my organs with its meaning

I would hear this wild sound / a clue to more than thought
/sound of spirit that hovers over / spreads throughout /
that couches in the ear /
that speaks silently
as spring seeds sneeze / spray the air / sweep and toss
then bayonet forcefully / the cold ungiving ground

/ although I cannot hear the bird touch down its foot
I ask to hear earth grow /
not only what I eat or lets me breathe
/ but what I am

Earth-grow
through feet to legs / to hips /
into the soft digesting that the pelvis holds /
into the anchors of integument / the vessels
/ the chemicals they contain /
the alchemy of the brain /

let me hear the sound of earth reclaim what has escaped /
hear self remembering / what will be heard /
when earth is all that’s left /

all / surround

Poem and photograph by Jo Mariner