learn

in the palm of the earth
the playground of treebranch
the classroom of dirt patch
o teachers o teachers

the ones who whistled in the leaf fall
the one who put the shine on dew-dazzled roses
the ones who bent the sequoia
to grow sideways so we could scamper up
the ones who put the gloss on magnolia leaves
the ones who learned how to build an arch
so i could shelter out of the strong sun

the ones who played and taught me
how to grin, the ones who hold my hands
as dogwood leaf, heart-shaped,
as southernwood branch
spicy and renewed
the ones who connect across the ages
the ones who opened up their lives, their hearts
so i could shelter out of not belonging
o teachers o sages

the ones who shared their curiosity
the ones who taught me to connect with center
the ones who showed me to my voice
the ones who open up the foot path to trod
between mugwort and rosemary
o teachers o teachers

may your way be blessed and clear
may you always be quenched in your
illimitable desire for knowing
being seeing saying singing grinning gazing
may the way open up
may the way be clear