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| Next time what I'd do is look at |
| the earth before saying anything. I'd stop |
| just before going into a house |
| and be an emperor for a minute |
| and listen better to the wind |
| or to the air being still. |
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| When anyone talked to me, whether |
| blame or praise or just passing time, |
| I'd watch the face, how the mouth |
| has to work, and see any strain, any |
| sign of what lifted the voice. |
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| And for all, I'd know more -- the earth |
| bracing itself and soaring, the air |
| finding every leaf and feather over |
| forest and water, and for every person |
| the body glowing inside the clothes |
| like a light. |
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