Sonnet #352

We talk about the weather, about the sky

How it turns upon us as we turn 

upon each other, how it burns

to see the birds dead in gravel, try

not to see the weeds in the grass

to lean back and just see green

and let the sun take us, how we preen

each other, refuse the metaphoric task

that demands we see ourselves in nature

that demands a sign and portent here

and how we hold our proud stature

even when it hurts to stand, to bear

the weight of metaphor, the force of earth

that demands we know more of us and more