“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware.”
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning
From Aurora Leigh
Fire in the Morning
I saw fire this morning
As I looked out at the trees.
Its light shined through every leaf and twig.
Flames leapt from behind the bark
The way lightening crackles in distant skies,
While soft fire glowed around every root.
Liz Barrett and I took off our shoes.
I walked on a teeming sea of life
That churned beneath my feet
As I moved across the field.
There was joyful imbalance
When the back of the beast swayed –
The trees and I noticed it for just a moment.
Then just as quickly,
As with a cleansing breath,
All grew still.
I walked back home
On dew-laden grass
While cicadas sounded
From the limbs above.
Charles Kinnaird
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