-- Music to Mine Ears --

John Herlihy

When all earth sounds are music to mine ears,

Sounds that enhance the laughter and the tears.

When the wind carries the echoing rustle of leaves,

That cling tenaciously to valiant limbs of mighty trees.

When the wind chimes tinkle in the darkening night,

As the wavelets of the pond sparkle in the moonlight.

When the pine needles whisper tales no one ever knew,

While bead droplets gather and fall as morning dew.

When birds return to their roost in the twilight of day,

Chattering of their activities wishing to have their say.

When pungent wood smoke rises into the autumn sky,

We hear hushed murmuring of prayer on which we rely.

When corn and wheat sprout their heads above earth,

Listen carefully to hear their implicit joy present at birth.

When, in snug bird nests, the robin’s egg begins to open,

Cracking this little world sends forth a miraculous token.

When the flutter of butterfly wings awakens the flower,

The bees too awaken drawn to duty by its special power.

When Nature speaks a language everyone understands,

Everyone listens; no one its sonorous harmony withstands.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Tuesday 11 January 2022