Mark Belair

Bearing Witness

Please bear with me
as I stop

to watch
an elm tree grow.

Then watch
a nestled egg.

Then an eroding
stone ledge.

Please bear with me
some more

as in this measured way
I get through my day,

stopping
to venerate change

too slow
for me to witness.

Though tomorrow
I may notice

a leaf bud, or broken egg,
or crumble of stone.

Evidence
of what arrived

bearing
witness of its own.

Mark Belair

has contributed to numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Harvard Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. He is the author of seven collections of poetry and two works of fiction: Stonehaven (Turning Point, 2020) and its sequel, Edgewood (Turning Point, 2022). He has been nominated for a Pushcart prize multiple times, as well as for a Best of the Net award.