Not just length, I want the width of life---to paraphrase Diane Ackerman---

it’s not how well you hear

but what you’ve heard

not how far you see

but what you’ve seen

not your excellent vocabulary

but the life-force of your words

not those large hands or strong

arms but everything they’ve held

there are thin trees that scrape the sky

that you must shade your eyes to see

and short ones that spread their shade

for anyone and everyone to enjoy

those we remember after they fall