MUIR'S THREAD
by Lori Martin

“Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe.” John Muir

I pull a string,
A thin thread,
Lint, really, on life's filter,
An annoyance,
Out of place,
I pull hastily,
And out comes
A duck, flapping,
Geese in a V,
A heron pursuing a turtle,
And their lake,
Reflecting trees unraveling,
Spilling leaves like autumn,
And I grasp with both hands,
Planting my feet to gain purchase
And out comes the whole sky in pale colors
Of spring, hiding the deep night
And its many other threads
In a tangled ball of order
We call
The universe.
Thunderstruck,
I stop pulling
And collapse
In the heap of it all.