The Shelter of Others by Eric Rawson

Like a ficus tree to the crow,

another person makes a good
     place to rest. We are, we’re told, sick

to seek, when sick, the shelter of
     another person. We are shamed,
          when we need, like the crow, the leaves

encompassing us. The fullness

of the tree to bear the bigness.
     To disappear into others,

as the crow decides upon its
     tree and looks out through the leaves at

the world. One disappears into
     another, resting, before flight.

Eric Rawson lives in Southern California and teaches at the University of Southern California. He is the author of “The Hummingbird Hour” and “Expo.”

(Front page image via)

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