Worms

Flare off the sidewalk one day:
walk on forbidden grass,
risk your eggshell-tender toes
on rocks like colored glass

reflect on soil and compost,
stare in nature's gritty face
Look keenly at its darkness
to comprehend life's grace

isn't all daffodilly sweetness
but brown earthworms in the loam
tunneling with sure purpose
where rootlings make their home

A miracle of ugly:
wigglers fit for fishers' pails,
you'd never see without first
getting dirt under your nails

Challenge laughter's brittle edge,
press its border further south
Trumpet deeply from your gut
without covering your mouth

Toss head back like the flowers
and while kneeling at their feet
consider what's above
before,
beside,
behind,
beneath