That Precious Blue

A spear of dewy spring grass!

How sweet.¹

Stand up and pledge allegiance

to the blades under your feet!²

Look up at the redwoods.

Belt out an anthem in praise.

Forgotten glories —

Why didnt they last?³

Because you forgot the grass:

pricking⁴ beneath your feet.

Do you know the who's who of the world

traveled here— to this land—³

from far and wide ,for just a glimpse?

A glimpse of what?

Her mountains rising higher than sight.⁵

His matted locks flowing down from her peaks to the seas⁶.

The spicy, sweet scent from the bark of her trees⁷.

The sharp heat from her creeper's seeds⁸.

Her riches—every one—

turned emperors into coin,

and coin into hunger,

then brought their likenesses

under the guillotine

of common vendors’ wary

bargaining- testing -hands.³.

But did you look at her?

Is that why she yielded to your touch?

Your dancers ask her forgiveness

before they step-- boldly and beautifully.⁹

Look at her!

I request you.

Wonder for a moment.

Do you still want to escape to Mars—

only to catch a glimpse of that precious blue¹⁰.

Notes and References

1. The grass image is influenced by Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself ” in Leaves of Grass, where a simple blade of grass becomes a way to think about the soul and the shared life of ordinary things.

2. This poem began as “True Patriotism,” shaped by childhood memories of reciting the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance at school. As the draft evolved, the tone shifted away from moral instruction toward a more lyrical, inward register.

3. A post about spices sparked a rush of pride and wonder—and then a quieter realization: much of what we call human “making” begins as a gift of the land. We shape what the earth provides, but we don’t originate it.

4. Alongside Whitman’s tender grass, I also heard a darker echo from the Mahabharata: in the epic’s closing, blades of grass become weapons in the destruction of Krishna’s clan.

5. The Rockies have long filled me with awe; seeing the Canadian Rockies in Banff deepened that feeling. A fellow traveler’s remark—that even these peaks can feel “small” after the Himalayas—became a reminder of how scale reshapes perception.

6. Alluding to Rivers. The river Ganga is often shown as flowing from Shiva's locks, hence the change in pronoun.

7. cinnamon bark

8. pepper

9. In some Indian dance traditions (Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi), dancers pay tribute to the Earth or Bhudevi before dancing):

   Samudra vasanedevi parvatasthana mandale |

   Natyam karishye bhudevi padaghatham kshamaswame ||

   Whose clothing is the ocean. Whose body is the mountains and plains. We dance on you, Oh mother Earth! Please forgive us for striking on you

10. Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot