Sunday, January 29, 2017

The Capacity of Speech by Austin Smith


The Capacity of Speech

It is easy to be decent to speechless things. 
To hang houses for the purple martins 
To nest in. To bed down the horses under 
The great white wing of the year's first snow. 
To ensure the dog and cat are comfortable. 
To set out suet for the backyard birds. 
To put the poorly-shot, wounded deer down. 
To nurse its orphaned fawn until its spots 
Are gone. To sweep the spider into the glass 
And tap it out into the grass. To blow out 
The candle and save the moth from flame. 
To trap the black bear and set it free. 
To throw the thrashing brook trout back.
How easy it is to be decent 
To things that lack the capacity of speech, 
To feed and shelter whatever will never 
Beg us or thank us or make us ashamed.


 

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