stay together, learn the flowers, go light....

For the Children

The rising hills, the slopes
of statistics
lie before us,
the steep climb 
of everything, going up,
up, as we all 
go down.

In the next century
or the o­ne beyond that.
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.

To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your childern:

stay together
learn the flowers
go light

Gary Snyder