Comfort
A piece of the earth will remember
Long past human time
When continents have drifted astray
And mountains have washed to the sea.
A piece of the earth will remember,
Not the horror of this day
Nor the gut-punched grief that lingers,
But the haven you have made just here.
This piece of the earth will remember,
Will be stumbled upon at need
Long ages hence by chance or design,
And sorrow will find comfort.
Jennifer Pahl Otto
Otto is Lansing poet and storyteller. The photos used to illustrate this poem were generously supplied by Rosalie Sanara Petrouske, a poet and photographer, who teaches writing at Lansing Community College, and facilitates a local writer’s group, Writing at the Ledges.
