The Uses of Light


It warms my bones
_ _ _ _ say the stones

I take it into me and grow
Say the trees
Leaves above
Roots below

A vast vague white
Draws me out of the night
Says the moth in his flight-

Some things I smell
Some things I hear
And I see things move
Says the deer-

A high tower
on a wide plain.
If you climb up
One floor
You'll see a thousand miles more.

- Gary Snyder (1930-)