In Memoriam Mae Noblitt
This is just a place:
We go around, distanced,
Yearly in a star’s
Atmosphere, turning
Daily into and out of
Direct light and
Slanting through the
Quadrant seasons: deep
Space begins at our
Heels, nearly rousing
Us loose: we look up
Or out so high, sight’s
Silk almost draws us away:
This is just a place:
Currents worry themselves
Coiled and free in airs
And oceans: water picks
Up mineral shadow and
Plasm into billions of
Designs, frames: trees,
Grains, bacteria: but
Is love a reality we
Made here ourselves
And grief did we design
That or do these,
Like currents, whine
In and out among us merely
As we arrive and go:
This is just a place:
The reality we agree with,
That agrees with us,
Outbounding this, arrives
To touch, joining with
Us from far away:
Our home which defines
Us is elsewhere but not
So far away we have
Forgotten it:
This is just a place.