FOR SNYDER AND BERRY

Out of wonder by wild design,
like greenheads rising, our ascension
from cattail ooze on a Sabbath

when I was a boy surprised
with my father—and all times since
shaking off the last glistening drops

to fly—no church or sermon necessary
to feel whole, to shed the nonessentials,
to become awestruck, he implied.

Even the shadow beneath the ridge
of a rattlesnake track teaches
by design, direction and urgency

left to fade within the long history
of earth. We cannot help building
fences in our minds to keep the wild

away and apart from our selfishness.
But only out of wonder may we remove
the barbed wire from our hearts.