The Moss Knows These Things

How to survive drought
by hanging on.

How to steal away the
footsteps of those
who would walk on you—
absorbing them into
the finality of silence.

How to wield smallness
to crack a stone—lying down
with kin until there is
a whole mountain
in your arms.

How to translate the language
of spirit disguised as the wind,
disguised as a tiny circle
of wild violets—

Disguised
as tomorrow’s rain.

In her retirement from teaching courses on worldviews, environmental values, and ecofeminism, Madronna Holden shares her love of the natural world through poetry. Read more.


“The Moss Knows These Things” originally appeared in Leaping Clear.

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Wild Ginger