"I saw and heard, and knew at last
The Who and Why of all things, past,
And present, and forevermore.
The Universe, cleft to the core,
Lay open to my probing sense,
That, sickening, I would fain pluck thence
But could not, -nay! but needs must suck
At the great wound, and could not pluck
My lips away till I had drawn
All venom out. -Ah, fearful pawn:
For my omniscience paid I toll
In infinite remorse of soul."
~from "Renascence" by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Peel the bark from the tree.
Crawl inside, covering
With blankets made of moss and leaves
You human soul. Accepting
The dew that soaks into your skin.
The breath is still inside you. Thin
As spiderwebs becomes your hair.
And here you sleep. You cannot bear
the constant swing of every day,
The people who do naught but pray.
Gears have replaced you. You are not sought
Out for your strong hands or your thoughts.
In your house you choke on dust
And outside you stumble through the smog.
But here you are now, listening
To the drone of deep within.
And slowly you can make out words
And you learn the secrets of the world.
The nature of things that have no age;
No past or present in which to cage
Your mind, now you are truly free
Trapped willingly inside your tree.
And from that tree you seep into the ground
And now your soul spreads the whole Earth 'round.
And now ageless, like the land, you have become
And if I listen carefully
I can hear
Your secret hum.
