The day I learned the roaming range of squirrels
My life grew large with neighbors small and gray,
Who know as no one else I know each burl
And branch that grows a few miles from their dray.
Said dray these made inside a hole in front
Of my brick house. Right here in my yard’s tree,
Whose name I do not know but I still want
To learn. And if I would allow them, they would teach me
What runs beneath the simple joy of place;
And how we share – and how we don’t – gives way
To what we see and whether we see grace.
For every body, known and not, today
I praise the Lord. I praise thee, God, for how
I’m theirs, they’re mine, and this place is ours now.
You can listen to me read it here