To Andy Goldsworthy

~ a poem I wrote in 2012...

To Andy Goldsworthy

I’ve read about your rainbow path of leaves floating on the river.

I’ve seen the way you

Weave thin blades of grass through

Leaves and fronds. 

Back and forth in a whip like motion.

I’ve marveled at your walls winding through

A forested landscape,

Encompassing existing trees, boulders, roots.

Perhaps what amused, encouraged, and touched me most

Was watching you build a simple cairn on the beach.

With armloads of flat stones,

You constructed a circular pattern. 

Testing, probing, pondering.

Would one dangerous move change the form?

You fingered the stones carefully,

As one might prod a child’s bruise. 

Each change, a slight settle in the rocks

Drew a startled breath, a quiet prayer

That your work need not be lost. 

With hesitation you started again.

And then with a crash, your dream and vision

Burst from the center, collapsing outward in a beautiful spiral. 

You, creator, author, dreamer

Stare in disbelief and disappointment

Before checking the incoming

Tide, choosing a new rock,

And beginning again.

How can you tell when it’s useless?

When to stop melting icicles to each other, watching water

Bleed into another form, smoothing damp leaves onto slick rocks.

When the wind whips several leaves out of place,

Do you continue

Or give up on your quest?

How do you know when it’s finished?

How do you know when to let go?