Nines

Late in life I wonder at it all.
Long story, many different lives.
Perched for the long view, I am watching,
curious to see what will be next.
So many have gone ahead of me
but I’m staying for the excitement
of earth and our species’ makeover.
The wild ride rises to a climax.

I want to play my part and offer
the contribution in my power
which is only poems, those vehicles
that can take us where we need to go.
Ensconced in a poem, a mystery
that may reverberate in a dream,
or can unfold something different
each time to each one who comes to it.

I want to canter around the bend
of the next age, I’d like to sing out
glory for our earth taking its place
as member of the living cosmos.
And if I leave before it happens
I will already have imagined
the rejoicing of other beings —
that humans finally came of age.

©Susa Silvermarie 2026

(in Ursula Le Guin’s meter of Nine syllables/line)