Oh hush the roar and booming of the giant waterfall,
And hear the song of the river, the winding brook's soft call.
Silence the wind in the canyon and hear the pine-boughs sway,
The notes of the hidden warbler, the noisy sky-patched jay.
Quiet the call of the woodland for a moment previous and brief
To hear the falling pine-needle and twirling yellow leaf.
Oh hush even the whispering aspen, as the sun slips out of sight,
And listen to the sound of silence, in the stillness of the night.


SOLACE

The earth and I both felt a need,
Our hearts were wrinkled, old and dried.
Then I followed Mother Nature's lead,
And in the dark last night, we cried.
The heavens fed the parched brown earth
With Nature's healing rain.
While tears washed bitter grief from my soul.
Now I, too, find life green again.

ENDURING

They were wrenched from the sea, foundations in stone,
Tall, proud, clean-limbed, the hills stood alone.
Dark brown, tan and gray in the time of their birth.
They thrust up their rugged heads against the world.
Grass grew on the trees, their green banners unfurled.
Man put a foot, dusty and brown, on the threshold of the hills
Civilization, creeping slowly at first,
Then pushing and straining and flooding...

The hills were once a dam against the boiling crowds, but in vain
They watched it, called progress, wash over them as a mighty sea,
Leaving a random froth of houses in its wake.
But civilization will pass, its exit will be
Violent, or quiet, however it came,
And the houses will fall. Wind and water will melt the ruins,
Someday man will go away. Trees will reappear,
Grass will grow again, under the clean rain.

The hills will never die...

RAIN

A little while ago the fields were dust;
The meager blades of corn stood withering.
The spindly stalks of grain, brown as crust.
The sultry air discouraged flight of wing.
An arm of thunder bumped against the hill,
The sun drew sullenly behind a cloud,
While brooding trees like statues, waited, still,
My breathing seemed extravagantly loud.

Then I heard the first faint sound of rushing rain
Against the tree's green host of thirsty leaves;
I saw the great drops lift the dust.
I watched them gather on the porch's eves.
Then from a bough, a bird was moved to song,
His heart and mine sang gladness, free and strong.

SUNFLOWERS

Remembering summer days when life was so sweet
And love was a walk in the rain.
When the clouds were but white pillows,
They'd billow and sail across the blue.
The cry of the wind was not lonesome then,
But gentle and soothing to hear,
Welcome company for a silent evening.
In those days the sunflowers I knew
Grew wild in weed-strewn grassy fields
Were born each morning in sunlight,
Sending their fierce color as a gift,
Only to close at the end of each day,
Folding their yellow petaled arms together.
Now life is an ache and a burden to bear,
And love is seen in a teardrop,
And clouds are symbols of storm and troubles,
And the wind runs an icy finger down my spine.
But with all this change I still see sunflowers;
These are ever alive,
Though warmed only by a light bulb
As they placidly gaze from the paper
That covers my bedroom wall.

DAYLIGHT

A rustle...
Sea grass stirs with nature's tender breath,
Stirs and beckons to the sun,
Who answers, rising ever higher,
Until the whole gold-red ball is suspended above the sea.

A moan...
A gentle sigh,
The breezes blow the dew drops all away,
Clearing the cool air of early morning.
The Sun beams brilliant.
He is here again,
And there is no fog...

The day has begun.

Sunrise at the Beach

A paleness...
A glow.
A sunbeam streaks in the gray half-light,
Then all is quiet solitude again.
Another glimmer, stronger,
And a rosy horizon announces
The coming of the Sun.

A whisper...
The muted, meshing, murmur of the sleepy water.
The roar from a drowsy wave.
The Sun is wakening with a million voices.
In the warm gleam of the Sun,
Waves dash, sprinting for the sand,
Cresting, rising higher,
Higher... Now!

They thunder over with a lion's sound,
A rumbling, growling greeting,
Succeeded by a reptilian hiss
As the foam from the breakers
Slithers, slushes, slips, up the waiting shore.

TREES

Oh blessed tree!
Were you created just for me?
On a hot summer day
As I seek your shade,
I breathe a "thank you"
For what God has made.

RAIN II

 Rain...

liquid drops of love

pouring themselves into the parched earth.

tiny individual mirrors of refreshment

for every human soul...

Raindrops...

echoes of sea foam

when ages long past all earth was water.

remembering now where it ran finding

old sea shells, deeply buried long ago.

Rain...

tiny bubbles of loneliness

wrung from silently weeping clouds.

thunder cracks, lightening flashes.

rain...dancing to the music

of the wailing wind. 

LIFE

Birth gives a promise to each of us
For a life full of joy and happiness.
Work and play are a part of it too,
And love helps to make it all come true.
But to each there's a time of struggle and pain
When joy and happiness all seem in vain.
So death holds a promise out to each of us
For a release from a life of pain and unhappiness.

 A Butterfly

Once I chased a butterfly
A fleeting shadow in the sun,
Flickering flame catching the eye of the morning,
A flash of sunshine against the trees,
Riding, coasting on the breeze,
Bright repository of gold.

Across the fields,
The rambling stream,
The pale green of hills held tight.
Within the rush of spring, I ran,
Pursuing the dream.

Now the time
When I first glimpsed
That yellow butterfly
Is but a fading memory
And youth has passed me by.

I look into my aging hand
And find...the butterfly! T'was with me
All the time, while I chased emptiness.

I eagerly clutch it to my breast
And the edge of darkness slowly closes in.