Morning Meditation (for Mom)

Stepping onto soft, early-morning earth,
My sure right foot descends from the boardwalk
Spanning a spring stream to land just where it
Landed yesterday. Same goes with each move
Around new life rising to the sun
Morning after morning: I mark this ground
In the same way, in the same safe places.

Here, though, a deer has crossed the same soft path;
Each cloven hoof marks a clear signature
Claiming the story of quiet woodlands.
We change the landscape by moving through it:
Walking, touching, breathing, seeing, knowing.

Say: The earth is mine, and I am the earth’s.
Moving from step to step, we find the next step.

Missing you on Mother's Day, Mom.