Always

What falls away is always.  And is near.
Theodore Roethlke


by Joy Ladin

The soul can’t tell 
One season from another.
They stare at her dumbly
Like sheep that have no leader.

Time paws the earth and lows,
Space nuzzles against her.
They follow her wherever she goes
As if she were their mother,

As if she were something
On which life could depend.
Worlds keep growing within the soul.
She doesn’t know how to bear them.

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