A Perfect Innocence

John Herlihy

Such a perfect innocence,

Can the phrase be said.

In the air, the smell of incense,

Freshness and beauty wed.

The perfection of falling snow,

In the form of a crystal.

Perfection not otherwise to know,

Landing with white breath mystical.

The perfection of the sunrise,

Turning days into a year.

Dawn slays darkness in our eyes,

A bubble on the tip of a spear.

The perfection of the pearl,

Pure white, round, smooth.

In the oyster’s slime to unfurl,

The exception of a rule to prove.

Where art thou sweet perfection,

In the earth’s orbit, in natural law.

No mistake bears witness to detection,

Sun rises, earth turns, without flaw.

The earth serves as hallowed ground,

A carpet spread out under our feet.

This mighty globe orbiting without sound,

Winter solstice, summer solstice to meet.

All in the wondrous name of innocence,

Perfection to be found at its core.

Beauty and bliss without pretense,

Time’s wave on eternity’s shore.

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 27 March 2025