Poem for 12/22/22 - "the earth is a living thing" by Lucille Clifton

I found reference to this poem in a provocative blog post by rabbinical student and S'vara Fellow Kendra Watkins. You can find their essay here. 

the earth is a living thing

Lucille Clifton - 1936-2010

is a black shambling bear ruffling its wild back and tossing mountains into the sea

is a black hawk circling 
the burying ground circling the bones
picked clean and discarded

is a fish black blind in the belly of water
is a diamond blind in the black belly of coal

is a black and living thing 
is a favorite child
of the universe
feel her rolling her hand
in its kinky hair
feel her brushing it clean