Grass

you are so eager to dance,
never to settle for sod,
too close to the earth you
might say, stomped by some
careless foot before the wind can
give voice to rising form

you writhe in the blond oceans,
pulsing a language of rustling heads,
leaning and shoving,
foolhardy forays - this way and that
hiding snakes from crows

such aliveness in motion and sound,
you sing for the burning sun,
wave to the unknowable stars
but heedless of the beating rain
that can flatten you

even fire can only still you for a season
before the ground delivers
you from your sleep
how I love your heave and sway,
your swagger as you die in amber