Monday, October 29, 2007

Deep Work

Any hand can make an impression
on the skin of the world; it wrinkles easily.
Deep work is different.
Spiderweb cracks in the hardest stone
yield to a tap
and water gushes out into the desert:
that’s not deep work, but the trees that grow
by the new spring will send down taproots
hundreds of feet into the earth. That’s deep work,
splitting rocks in the endless dark
drawing up minerals to meet the sun.
Deep work isn’t fast.
In a thousand years there’ll be a forest here.


If you like poetry, check out the weekly prompt site at Totally Optional Prompts

10 comments:

MB said...

I enjoyed this one, Tiel.

Dennis said...

Nice bend on the concepts of depth and time. You got me thinking for sure.
D

Rambler said...

I had never looked at deep work from this perspective.
thanks for sharing

Crafty Green Poet said...

wise poem, well written. Excellent

Tumblewords: said...

Deep. Yes, it is. And the bend in time is nicely done!

Linda Jacobs said...

Awesome first line! I like a poem that makes me think. Good job! ~Linda

Brian said...

Any hand can make an impression
on the skin of the world; it wrinkles easily

This poem opens beautifully and carries through..

Anonymous said...

The first two lines are great, it's not possible to stop reading at that point. Where you go from there is pretty nice too.

Anonymous said...

Succinct, direct & wise. A fine poem.

Dale said...

(o)