a storm of unexpected grace

i lay embraced by water and fire….

and wonder where you are,
in this wide wide universe….

to the west of me,
surf rolls and crashes….

to the east, fire crackles and sparks….

here at the joining of land and sea,
storm and wind and wave rollick….

and i feel you
out there….

every now and then
my sturdy shelter rocks
with the buffeting wind….

rain suddenly speckles windows and deck….

i watch as all the elements dance --
a dangerous alchemy….

alarming and compelling,
at once….

holy, alive….

you have been inside me….
and i have worn you like a thread….

how i marry the world!
in its enlivening, humbling all --

oh, i am still, though –

still a student of patience….

but look -- though winter yet rules the earth,
the monarchs join in the eucalyptus trees….

at piedras blancas, elephant seals bellow
their powerful desire….

beneath the redwoods,
vibrant lichens cover living stones,

and across the arms of coastal oaks,
great festoons of grey-green lace
abandon themselves to the breeze....

look!

how effortlessly
we partner one another….

in this world or the next –

(perhaps there is no difference
to our quantum selves….)

along the brilliant turquoise coast,
look!

it’s february,
and flowers riot in the hills….

like a storm
of unexpected grace….

______________
©2012
beth anne boardman


(*thank you* to biologist andrea freeman
for identifying lace lichen as the partner of
coastal live oaks in california.... <3 )