Does the seed know
it is made to be more
than a seed?
Or does it too, tremble,
At every mysterious stirring from within;
at each unknown and strange vibration
of uncurling root and tendril,
sprout and leaf?
Maybe it knows
perfectly
that it will keep changing
forever,
precariously balanced
between earth and sky.
But I like to think
we require the same acts of trust:
The seed,
cupped in the hollow of my hand.
The universe,
curling its fingers around me.
Poem by Erin Liana Johson
Erin Liana Johnson currently works as an Associate Clinical Counselor in California’s Central Coast alongside the redwood trees and the irrepressible ocean. Sometimes she finds time to write! Previous awards and publications include the Richardson Poetry Prize and the Spectrum Poetry Award (College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara, 2006.) And “Scleroderma At 15” (The Body Eclectic: An Anthology, edited by Patrice Vecchione, Henry Holt and Co., 2002).