Dusting, by Marilyn Nelson

Dusting

Thank you for these tiny

particles of ocean salt,

pearl-necklace viruses;

winged protozoans:

for the infinite,

intricate shapes

of submicroscopic

living things.

For algae spores

and fungus spores,

bonded by vital

mutual genetic cooperation,

spreading their 

inseparable lives

from equator to pole.

My hand, my arm,

make sweeping circles.

Dust climbs the ladder of light. 

For this infernal, endless chore,

for these eternal seeds of rain:

Thank you. For dust.

I am thankful for dust, too, and also for my trip this past summer to France, getting to walk past these men on my way to the Camille Claude museum in Nogents.

And I am thankful that I have been given time to write

and that I have access to fresh and local foods

And I am thankful for views like these

And I am grateful to my parents for instilling a passion for learning

even though I still have no idea why this saint is blasting off like a rocket.