The Chosen

If ever you have wakened in the night—
the steep blue night, and waited for the tears—
then I must tell you—

If you have questioned upward into night
and found only the breathing sky’s dark matter
thrilling, spilling into your blind eyes—

then I must tell you that the earth is yours,
fragrant and lovely and bitter as it is,
hungry and heavy-hearted as you are.

Newton Miner, formerly a civil servant, is retired to the Ozarks of Arkansas.