A Low Place Made High

At the bottom of an ocean long since dry

I learned 50 names for God (in the form of plants) 

I learn the names given by botanical Adam’s and scientific Eve’s

Yet, I hardly stop to take them in, know them without word or taxonomy

Atop towers of stone once ocean floor

Now sacred groves to the faithful who flock here from metropolises made of other kinds of stone 

seeking solitude and beauty

I listen, atop a naked sandstone mesa:

A humming bird buzzes in harmony with the buzz of a fly

The wind ruffles my paper and my floppy straw hat

Stillness

At the bottom of an ocean long since dry—

A low place made high 

Capitol Reef National Park, May 1, 2013