Pastoral

I lean back on my fingers,

my smile slow and wide.

It is good to be me

beneath the trees

and lean my head back

as if earth were a pillow.

Below ground the roots

are wiggly and wild,

and I bury my face

in the green piles

of soil, where good things grow.

Take time, take time to smile,

for the good red buds

and the green sap.

It is evening, when the sun

slips slowly away

and the drink

of the night comes on.

For in the spring

the grass just grows

and grows.

• William Carlos Williams