Language for the Eye

by Dorothy Miles

Hold a tree in the palm of your hand,
or topple it with a crash.
Sail a boat on finger waves,
or sink it with a splash.
From you finger tips see a frog leap,
at a passing butterfly.
The word becomes the picture in the language for the eye.

Follow the sun from rise to set,
or bounce it like a ball.
Catch a fish in a fishing net,
or swallow it bones and all.
Make traffic scurry, or airplanes fly,
and people meet and part.
The word becomes the action in this language of the heart.