"What Have I Learned" by Gary Snyder

Calochortus, mariposa lily

What have I learned but

the proper use for several tools?

The moments

between hard pleasant tasks

To sit silent, drink wine,

and think my own kind

of dry crusty thoughts.

—the first Calochortus flowers

and in all the land,

it’s spring.

I point them out:

the yellow petals, the golden hairs,

to Gen.

Seeing in silence:

never the same twice,

but when you get it right,

you pass it on.

"What Have I Learned" by Gary Snyder from No Nature. © Pantheon Books, 1992.