Advice
By Dan Gerber
You know how, after it rains,
my father told me one August afternoon
when I struggled with something
hurtful my best friend had said,
how worms come out and
crawl all over the sidewalk
and it stays a big mess
a long time after it’s over
if you step on them?
Leave them alone,
he went on to say,
after clearing his throat,
and when the rain stops,
they crawl back into the ground.
Copyright Credit: Poem copyright ©2012 by Dan Gerber, from his most recent book of poems, Sailing through Cassiopeia, Copper Canyon Press, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press.