My Favorite Places

My favorite places
Scientists say we are connected through a cubic foot of dirt.
Winds and rain bring tiny pieces of Africa, Europe and China
to my back yard in graphic splendor.
I don’t understand but I believe.

I love mud from
Grandpa’s garden where magic turns seeds to flowers.
and words to adventures with knights and kings and queens
and I become his gladiola princess.

I love mud from
Thompson Creek where my children learned
wiggling mud between our toes was sharing time
and a hose became our bath that night.

I love mud from
Lake Sara at the monastery.
Ditching black stockings urging me to follow barefoot –
and I learned nuns were human.

I love mud from
A kick start potter’s wheel
Delicious cool earth in my hands
And it could become anything I dreamed.

I love mud from
My farm because I know
Scientists say it came from everywhere
and it reminds me we’re all connected.

I love mud from
Genesis because God played in mud
making us from that cubic yard of dirt
proclaiming we’re brothers and sisters all.

I love mud from
Science because it challenges me to protect
that sacred cubic foot of dirt
So I might play in mud with God for eternity.

Pat Pickett, OblSB