Thinking About Thoreau
Tending his bean plants
January 26, 2000
by the pond,
tracking the waywardness
of lichens,
measuring the crystal concentration
of spring ice --
he tries so hard to pay
attention,
but his mind is always
leaping off
in new directions, as if
the whole point
is to cross life's river of confusion
on the stones
of metaphor -- though careful observation
will reveal
he never seems entirely sure he
wants to go.
Copyright © Amy Belding Brown