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A Poem and Photos by Grace E. C.
Representative of My Communion with Nature
The
mantle clock ticks and clicks
With
unease at the slowness of the day,
And
a table – sporting such bumps and nicks –
Waits
‘neath a chopped up garden on display.
With
oranges and greens all neatly sliced
And
reds and yellows smartly diced
Among
their peels and all the skins
Of
their sweet opposites and of their kin,
They
await the final end.
But
from out a breeze pours in
Through
the window thrown wide ajar,
To
render a fluttering to rampant curtains
That
wave and point at an empty jar.
I
pull a hat of straw from off the hook
And
retrieve a blade from the chopping plate;
Slip
on boots of long and beaten look
Even
as the clock taps its cogs in eager wait.
The
bolt is raised and the door is free
To
swing out creaking on its frame,
And
the first thing there that the sweet air bring
Is
a silky aroma of honeysuckle flame;
It
dances o’r the green and dew
And
taps my hair and my hat askew…
Lands
on my nose almost absently –
Filling
my senses with its purity –
And
reminding me of spring.
Passing
flowering trees all green,
With
ballrooms of blossoming sprites;
And
further on down the hill past I see
Sparrows
twittering and tittering their delight
O’r
blackberry bushes, all plump and primp,
‘N
squabbling in the branches like silly imps
For
the juiciest of all the treasures,
With
the greatest joy and such pleasures
That
their little breasts can hold.
And,
oh, the field of touch-me-nots,
Luminous
as the ocean in a hushing breeze!
Gently
swaying, almost, I thought,
To
the music of their whispering leaves.
But
I go on to a bubbling stream
Of
polished stones and pebbles smooth,
Where
cool water, as soft as cream,
Mirrors
from above the heaven’s blue.
Then
splish and splash a ring or more
(When
once there was none before)
Reveals
heads shining pearly green
All
croaking with surprise at me
As
I walk through and by.
Into
the thickest of trees I go
With
a soft rustling of leaves and grass,
And
the more I look, the more I know
That
this is what God means to last:
A
world of light that always shines –
A
green cathedral that enshrines
All
such beauty and all the life
That
the fields and trees are always rife –
And
the place that I call home.
A
spot ahead, it opens up
Where
beams of light spill down!
I
step across a log and to the center cut
Through
ferns to settle on that ground.
A
bath could never be as fine as this
Sunlight
holding me in its warm embrace –
Caressing
my all in its sunny kiss
And
leaving marks upon my face...
And
all about are dragonflies
Shining
as sapphires in the glade;
And
fluttering softly, golden butterflies
Dancing
so merrily and unafraid!
And
with a soft buzz and a hum
Come
the emerald hummingbirds
Into
the blossoms to hover there among,
To
peep such sweet little words.
After
a time I finally rise
To
brush away a bit of grass,
Where
underneath a humble prize:
A lone
white bud as weak as glass.
I
stoop and touch this slender stem,
Then
take the knife back out again –
Though
not to touch its modest face,
But
instead the earth around its place –
To
remove it root and all.
Back
at the house in the kitchen room,
On
the table my flowers lay:
The
white and tiny fragrant blooms
With
all their dirt now washed away.
And
with the blade I slice them up
(The
roots I lacked before),
And
carefully, with but tender love,
Remove
the blossoms that they had borne.
Protected,
they, in my folded hands,
To
bear the flowers from that place,
I
reach the door where there I stand
With
a thankful smile for their giving grace.
Then
spreading wide, my fingers open,
Where
shown the white and glorious tokens
That
begin to rise and float away,
Into
the wind like snow astray –
Back
to where they call home.
To
turn to seed and plant again
Back
in their cathedral home.
Finally was
the image brought to mind upon reading: “he rode with short stirrups, which
brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck
out like grasshoppers’… as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not
unlike the flapping of a pair of wings.” Needless to say, seeing it illustrated in the movie was priceless.
