My bare feet on the beach,
The passion of the sun warms the sand that supports me.
With each step I feel you,
Sand satiates the openings between toes.
Each step is a slight descent,
Yet still you support me with every and each step.
My foot never falls far from the surface,
For fragments a thousand strong are enough to hold me.
I bend down to thank the succor,
An epiphany awaits to shame my ignorance.
It is not sand on which I stand,
Immaterial flecks of rock and broken stone.
No, in my hand and under my feet,
Fragmented shell and shards immeasurable hold me firm.
Once living and now spent,
I stand on the lives of thousands who have gone before.
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Wendell Berry is renowned for his nature and agrarian writings and reflections. This Day: Sabbath Poems, 1979 – 2012 is a collection of poems and essays from Berry’s sabbaths outdoor wanderings.
