The Earth

From above
The earth makes sense
Arrayed
In perfect geometry
Sliced by rivers, tracks and roads.

At eye level
Rows of grain blend
In confusions
Of random application
By plows and seeders.

Occasional clusters
Of brush and trees
Mark where once stood
Farm houses and ramshackle
Barns and sheds.

From above the earth
Is girded in mist
A modest skirt
Of virginal apparel
Lovely and engaging.

At eye level the earth
Is fragranced
With all manner of growing things
River-scents
And animal scratch.

I love the earth
In every presentation.
I am charmed
With its gritty reality
As much as by its romance.

From the windshields
Of Chevrolet or Cessna
Whether by the golden strand
Of its distant horizon
Or ebony highways

The earth is marvelous
In eye level joys
Its tractor and trailer days
Or prop wash at three thousand feet.
The earth is my home.