ON THE RIDGE

We can grow by simply listening,
the way the tree on that ridge
listens its branches to the sky,
the way blood listens its flow
to the site of a wound,
the way you listen like a basin
when my head so full of grief
can’t look you in the eye.

We can listen our way out of anger,
if we let the heart soften
the wolf we keep inside.

We can last by listening deeply,
the way roots reach for
the next inch of earth,
the way an old turtle listens
all he hears into the pattern of his shell.

~Mark Nepo

Source: Oprah Newsletter