-- Rhythms of Nature --

John Herlihy

Do you consider your surroundings and gaze in wonderment?

Do you probe life’s mysteries ever searching for contentment?

Enter freely, then, the periodic rhythms that nature provides,

Down in the depths of mystery where nature’s heart resides.

The signs exist all around us with evidence of nature’s splendor;

From mountain peaks to ocean floors, nature’s heart beats tender.

Beware being one of those who pass by but do not the signs see;

Beware being one of those who live their lives as thieves who flee.

Take my hand as we quietly stroll thru realms of universal wonder;

Listen to silence and sounds of nature that peal echoes of thunder.

Smell the subtle aromas of night rain and pine forests of evergreen;

Unravel the sacred scroll that reveals what divine mysteries mean.

Who creates the day if an everlasting night were darkly nocturnal?

Who creates the night if an everlasting day were brightly eternal?

Indeed, the trust of the day to blend mysteriously into the night;

While the trust of the night to disappear faithfully into day’s light.

The promise of first dawn light resolved in the rays of sunlight;

The promise of the last drawn light of dusk found in moonlight.

The harmony of the seas lies in the ebb and flow of its tides;

The ebb and flow of the heart find shore in a soul that abides.

The heart of winter could not survive if nature’s artifacts did not die;

Summer’s heart could not survive if not on summer’s warmth to rely.

The heart of spring could not revive without blessing of spring rains;

The heart of autumn could not revive if summer’s heat forever reigns.

All living things eventually succumb to the proclamation of the dead;

The thorn cannot protect the rose when summer’s heart has bled.

And yet the signs of nature signal that all things dead will be reborn;

Death a temporary hibernation when life from the jaws of death torn.

I draw in the strength of the palm tree and comfort from its shade;

The vast ocean breaks as frothy waves along the shore where I wade.

I pick up the individual petals of the rose that once bloomed whole;

The beautiful blue jay on feathered wings flies high deep to my soul.

The bushy tail of the chipmunk; the noble antlers of the reindeer;

The firefly, butterfly, dragonfly all pierce my heart with their spear.

Uplifted from the earth on artful wings by soft breezes in the air;

The wonders of nature sing praises to the Divinity in simple prayer.

The earth rotating on its axis journeys thru heavens of outer space;

As those here below gaze at the stars as diamonds of delicate lace.

Rhythms of nature find their ultimate harmony in heavenly spheres;

Listen carefully as their celestial music falls sweetly into our ears.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 10 September 2022