Be a Person Here

Be a Person Here 
            after William Stafford

Listen.
First to finches and doves,
owls in intimate conversation
kindred rustling of leaves
clattering hail
the fall of snow     how it
quiets the natural world
 
Give ear to your neighbors
the ones you understand
who are easy to love,
and the vexing enigmas 
hip pockets fat 
with open-carry pistols
Listen to them, too

and the humming cosmos
brimming, boundless
far vaster than mind
can contemplate
feel how minuscule we are
Listen.