Helen Wilson - Lizard Listening

A lizard ironed onto a rock,
Lissom limbs loaded
With cells that feel the earth’s pulse beat…
Lazy lizard; goaded.

Not so, the wise among you say –
Laud the lizard’s languor,
For he takes time to hear the quiet;
He does not act in anger.

‘What does he know, ’I hear you ask,
‘Laden not with longing? ’
He knows the moment here and now,
No past or future thronging.

Perhaps he will be preyed upon,
Lying lax and lightsome.
Yet will that spoil his listening?
Nay, the present is too ‘brightsome’.

Helen Wilson

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lizard-listening/