Reciprocity

earthworms

use rivers

of rain to float

faster than crawling

to a more nourishing

fertile location

sometimes

it works

sometimes

it doesn't

and there i am

as often as i remember

after the downpour

with my oak leaf lifting

as many worms

as i find stranded

on the hard macadam

of the driveway onto

the cool of lush lawn

now alone on the first

of forty days exploring

the hot and stony desert

the rocky formations and

unforgiving sands

of joshua tree

i pray the spirits

who manifest

in the venomous reptiles

coiling and crawling

have heard the rumors

about my acts

of invertebrate kindness

to their distant kin

and ignore or

at the very least

are forgiving of me

and my trespass

into the realm

of these deep watchers

each night when

i bed

down

here

to

sleep