The world is full of wonder,
But most of it is small,
Begging for attention that requires us to slow down,
And that habit of attention is the basis of love.

Have you ever stood so still
That you could hear the world breathing?

Have you ever stepped so softly through the woods
That you were startled by a crackle
As a wasp munched leaves to papier mâché?

Have you ever watched so closely
That you saw a hoverfly yaw,
As on an invisible string,
A perfect one-eighty, meeting
Your gaze with twin dimpled prisms,
Compound eyes scouring your mind?

Have you ever felt the wisdom of children
Who see a warbler fall to the ground,
Yellow neck snapped by a window strike,
And think clearly enough to give it a name,
So that they circle and say together
“Rest in peace, Sunflower” when it’s buried?

If a bird is worth such a prayer
And each insect deserves a poem,
Is every man who ever lived
And every woman now on earth
An epic, a novel, a ballad,
Waiting only for attention and a pen?

What does this poem speak to YOU?
TELL US IN THE COMMENTS.

JUSTIN LONAS is a writer, cook, hiker, husband, father, and aspiring theologian (slowly chipping away at an MDiv) from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Connect with him at jryanlonas.com and on Instagram @jryanlonaswrites.