POEM (&MP3): If We Felt the Earth Turn Under Us

if-we-felt-the-earth.mp3

(photo:http://www.samuelwooten.com)

IF WE FELT THE EARTH MOVE UNDER US

If we felt the earth move under us
in its flow
wherever it goes

If we sometimes almost had to hold on
as the globe turned
and could sense its revolutions its fleet
swiftness round its axis and even
forward through space as well
riding it
as we walked to the corner grocery or
crossed a street and could also
look up at the sky and see
signs of its graceful movement against perhaps the
slower clouds or backdrop of whatever
weather

Not hearing it move through space necessarily
no whistling or wind of its merry-go-round trajectory
but still could sense under our feet under these
solid bodies of pumping pulsations we’ve been
given to ride in for a time
the ride of the planet as well

If we felt this both poignantly and serenely
would it change us much in regards to
our peacefulness or maybe especially
our place in the universe

Would the feeling of the flow of roundness moving also
around under us change the forward
landscape of our lives or change our
way with each other or with

He Who is both absolute movement and
absolute stillness

If we felt the earth move under us
in its flow?

4/18/2001
(from The Music Space / just published)