By D.S. Martin
Flourish, Fall 2011
How far does it stretch
the astral beam celestial stream
shimmer-trickle of light
further descended than comprehended
straight from the highest height?
Consider reduced to a speck in the eye
wheel within wheel a galaxy spin
The film unwinds faster than our take-up reel
can take it in
Sing heavenly muse
a song to counter the spirit of the age
the rage & rush the panic & push
the flitter scamper clamber cage
the grasp after what won’t last
Sing of the thing that continues
the prolonged the extended
a song from ancient days
of those whose strength is their length
Long before a white robe covers
northern nesting grounds the arctic tern
yearns for endless summer for the long flight
On unseen substance she hovers
above the globe chasing light
to the long day of the antarctic south
She’ll obey her goal pole to pole swallow
on the wing what comes to mouth
& follow her long migratory way
Let us honour the patient & insistent
Every great thinker is an imitator
who works & waits unlike a thief
Every navigator who considered the birds
of the air learned from their flight
Every aviator down the long line
from Wilbur & Orville Wright
shares the benefit of their persistent belief
such things were not absurd
The long angled stem sticking from the apple
of the earth helps us grapple to answer
the reasons for seasons
along the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer
& the longer meridians measure
distance & daylight & imaginatively
cut orange slices from a blue planet
but the time zone zig-zag etching such a stone
required a committee to plan it
Praise belongs to the long lean giraffe
head in the trees her long black tongue
engulfs acacia leaves Her drumbeat race
& rocking-horse rhythm imitates
a slow motion grace through savanna heat
Her hour-young calf struggles to his feet
waits near for fear for lions are quick
His mother’s leg long & strong
will dispatch a lion with a single kick
The skip stone too shows grace in motion
its thrust & spin
when flung from your finger
for a moment defies what must be
We long for perpetual skip across that skin
despite our slight power to throw
but when that stone submits to sink
think of the long descent
to deep distant depths beyond sight
Fathom that stone at rest in an ocean
cradled in silty hollow blanketed
by current shift debris sift
beneath layer after layer like snow
& the slow juggernaut of geological time
the constant pulse pace
pull push of planet tide
& that stone’s eventual climb
to its place in a mountainside
When passing clouds cool in their long
mountain ascent & halo the moon
nimbostratus sacks bulge
seams drip & stitches rip Patient pine seeds
on the splash-splatter slope need
root & shoot to strive Soon (or not soon)
they’ll thrive & grow stronger
since the slow fight for light
makes full height take longer
The Trans-Canada Highway is worth
traversing The long & winding road
its end worth waiting for
like the long book well worth the read
the fish on the hook reward for an afternoon
& the song worth rehearsing
To sit still on stump or for long
right on earth is worth the sight
of that bird or the deer in the clearing
In anticipation of moose elk or deer
we quietly draw near & sing admiration
of long strong antlers patiently regrown
year after year We sing honour
to the long enduring a song reassuring
when little may last Tortoise longevity
can span a century or two He never
moves fast yet reaches his destination
where he suns on his stone
In desert silence observe the cactus
the one who faces shadeless blue
the voice of one crying Send my roots rain
In verdant forest see shadowed maple
the one in places of blueless shade
sighing for open sky leaves spread in vain
until new branches curve
toward open spaces to renew
hope so dreams won’t fade
When passing clouds roll & shiver
a raindrop may trip aloft or drip
to runnel stream & river further
longer than simply to the sea a process
of constant whirl A progress
through corn consumed by a cow
or worm used to fish for fish for
a beggar or king forming as sweat on his brow
wet grows dry evaporated to the sky
When sailors cross the albatross suspended
on long wings they bless the sign
as though it brings wind on its long flight
& so there was sorrow in the mariner’s crossbow
The great white bird glides with little loss
of energy & will shine like a bright cross
as did the apparition that three times
circled the pine mast of Caspian’s ship
in the form of an albatross
Whatever has strength in its length whatever
has patience to wait & persevere celebrate
All that belong such as those that aspire
to the true the beautiful & the good
should be raised in song such as the redwood
that grows taller than anything on earth
towers with power & lives long
Of the things that endure & whose worth
is pure O heavenly muse sing
D.S. Martin is a Canadian poet whose writing has widely appeared in such places as Canadian Literature, Christianity & Literature, Dalhousie Review, Relief, Ruminate, and Spiritus. He has had two collections published: So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed (Rubicon Press), and his most recent, Poiema (Wipf & Stock), which received an award from The Word Guild. His website is: www.dsmartin.ca
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