SACRED SPOTS

                                There are no unsacred places;
                                there are only sacred places
                                and desecrated places.
                                          – Wendell Berry (“How To Be A Poet”)

We listen with our eyes,
turn pages back, hear
and learn the language

of all-flesh praying.
Certain ceremonies linger
in the air, cling to rocks

thrust up from the earth,
always ready for the sky—
places young boys came

to become men standing
among the Blue Oaks
for generations camped

below. You will know them
when you find them,
when you stop:

sacred spots for gods
to rest and try again
in case we need to pray.

                                                      “How To Be A Poet”