On The Ridge : Mark Nepo

We can grow simply by listening.

the way the tree on that ridge

listens its branches to the sky,

the way blood listens its flow

to the site of wound,

the way you listen when

my head so full of grief

can’t look you in the eyes.

We can listen our way

Out of howling, the way a heart

can soften the wolf

we keep inside, we can last

by listening deeply, the way roots

listen for the next inch of earth,

the way an old turtle listens all

he hears into the pattern of his shell.

Mark Nepo