The Snail

 

Did you even pause

To notice

What’s in the rock

Below your foot

On the limestone wall

Near the rocketing waves

Ancient lessons, markers, hints

We ignore

Strata of life, layer on layer

We tread upon the backs of those

Who have lived before

 

How significant the small snail

Embedded. Encased. Spiraled and hollow.

Curvature crustaceans mosaic beneath our feet

A firm foundation

Yet we forget

But look to grocery lists

And calendars, market rates and bottom lines

Never pausing, glancing down

In gratitude for what has come before

 

Someday we too will lay beneath

The soles of feet that pass

Buried in the layers

Of our own disregard

Of our ignorance and bliss

Unless we listen to the snails

Put our ears to the soil

Translate the chatter of the trees

And learn.

 

 

Janet Elizabeth Hartwick Sterk

July 2022