Obeying the Impulse

The world exists just fine without
our appreciation. It is not for us
that the dandelions bloom in tides of yellow

across the valley floor. Not for us
that the elk stream in a slow brown current
before disappearing into Englemann spruce.

And then there are the tiny empires
of grasshoppers, ants and bees—
and the underground realms of prairie dogs

and worms and rhizomes and moles—
intricate and entirely oblivious to praise.
And still, this drive toward gratitude.

Still this tug to pull over the car and marvel,
this impulse to offer the world our attention,
as if being very still and alert is as vital

to the moment as scurry and swerve,
scamper and stride. Perhaps it is.

Posted by kind permission of Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is a poet, teacher, speaker and writing facilitator who co-hosts the Emerging Form podcast on creative process. Her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, is on the Ritual app. Her poems have appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, PBS News Hour, O Magazine, American Life in Poetry, and Carnegie Hall stage. Her most recent poetry collections are All the Honey (Samara Press, 2023) and The Unfolding (Wildhouse Publishing, October 2024). In January, 2024, she became the first poet laureate for Evermore, helping others explore grief, bereavement, wonder and love through poetry. One-word mantra: Adjust.

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