It Takes Practice Not To Die

by Elizabeth Bartlett

LANDSCAPE: WITH BREAD

Let us admit it is attractive
and represents something we think
we need: to live beautifully
and find goodness in it.
Everything points in that direction:
from beelines to star routes,
our dreams flower in the cells of night,
our days are joined to the sun.
Open or closed, our eyes possess
the world: all that appears
fulfills the desert gardens
and the glitter of gold. Yet,
whether we ever can reach
the source where image and reality
meet, or survive the force
of fire turning to ecstasy—
the immediate need we can not deny
is, simply, to exist...
meanwhile, perfecting the wish
for astral honey and blossoms of light.