-- Talking to Nature --

John Herlihy

Henry always looked forward to his walk,

Partial to nature, to nature he would talk.

Take mountains and their snow-clad peaks,

They just give him precisely what he seeks.

Such awe, the majesty, the incredible flair,

To lift his heart from the depths of despair.

Rivers he understands, him they understand,

He as a kindred spirit who makes no demand.

Rivers flow ever onward, they for no one wait,

Carving rocks into sculptures as abiding trait.

Henry fully appreciated the river’s fluid force,

Always determined to run its appointed course.

Riverlets and streams gurgled messages to him,

He talked to them in return as a matter of whim.

Who could not listen to what they might know,

Originating as they do from the purity of snow.

From sun-lit pools and virgin springs, he drank,

His feet into the sands of its gentle waters sank.

Henry not like others, when he looked, he saw,

Lady bugs, caterpillars, butterflies, a wolf’s paw.

As a child, the praying mantis became his friend,

Its size large, its stately attitude, true to the end.

He cuddled rabbits, knocked on the turtle’s shell,

Listened to the whispering ocean in the seashell.

Into the depths of a primeval forest, he did roam;

Upon his arrival, he felt like he was coming home.

Forest as cathedral with dark, moody atmosphere;

Shafts of light pierce thru shadows of the interior.

The color of light hallowed as if thru stained glass,

As tender feelings of peace deep in his heart amass.

The woods solemnly quiet with silence at the brink,

Til random sounds echo, sounding loud and distinct.

Not chaotic tuning of instruments of a full orchestra,

Bird sounds broken into pieces of notes on a piano.

Yet they sing in a language that speaks to his heart,

To stay tucked forever in the forest, never to depart.

The soft thud of pinecones falling finally to the ground,

The whispering of the pine needles as silence of sound.

The quiet gurgling of spring waters in a rocky streamlet,

Rustle of squirrels and chipmunks as from heaven sent.

Small wonder Henry’s soul spoke to nature with ease;

Darkness in his world floated away on a gentle breeze.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 23 May 2021