-- Ode to Nature –

John Herlihy

We look upon the sublime panorama of nature,

As we might look upon pictures at an exhibition.

In nature’s presence, as in the presence of great art,

We are as nothing, irrelevant, humbled, an imposition.

Speechless and in awe, as if struck by magic wand,

Compared to the roar of oceans, stillness of a pond.

Unlike dreams of night with something to confess,

The sublime enclaves of Nature arrive in full dress.

With unassuming attitudes, they knock on our door,

These magisterial scenes never impose with more.

Even when scantily clad, as a tree in winter lament,

Skeletal branches seem glad, the onlooker content.

Powerful, serene, and detached in its sheer essence,

Nature never stoops to admit us into Her presence.

The savage queen never intrudes from its solitudes,

While the persistent traveler, one by one, intrudes.

The vulgar and worldly encroach upon nature’s delights,

All the while holding a sense of conquest in their sights.

Yet, in the end, Mother Nature always has the upper hand,

We have nothing to offer Her, it is She who makes demand.

Such artful beauty written into the color of precious stones,

Nature will continue to endure while we reduced to bones.

Laughter in bubbling streams, the stern face of storm clouds.

Ever to shine forth luminous, as we are wrapped in shrouds.

We think ourselves as the pinnacle as illusion perpetuates;

Sorry to say this, it is sacred scripture that clearly relates.

The creation of nature supersedes the creation of humanity;

We wonder who we are; nature never questions its mystery.

- - - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 27 August 2021