At the Back of the Field

A corner of the world for stillness and sighs

There is something to be said

for the wind in the great green crowns,

for that music and motion and deep sea swaying,

for the comfort of leaves, an arboretum of mind,

something to be said for stillness and sighs,

for taking root where the field meets the trees,

for the moths and the sulfurs lifting and settling

in the asters now rising as high as our thighs,

something to be said for the woodpeckers rapping

deep in the shade of the woods at our backs,

for the sound of the tide of our breathing --

in to be one with the sky,

out to be grateful and calm --

something to be said for solitude's peace,

for the hum of the universe in our own ears.

Yes, there is something to be said for it all,

but let there be silence instead.

— To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized
need of the human soul. — Simone Weil