“Earth Verse
Wide enough to keep you looking
Open enough to keep you moving
Dry enough to keep you honest
Prickly enough to make you tough
Green enough to go on living
Old enough to give you dreams”
This is the shortest of 39 poems in Gary Snyder’s book titled Mountains and Rivers Without End, published by Counterpoint Press. The book is is an interesting caricature of the man and his West Coast environment. Also check out his radio interview on KQED in 2013.