Venues

I walked a common path today…

neatly laid squares

winding cautiously through my unfamiliar surrounds.

Perhaps I’ll venture farther tomorrow onto the shaded,

sandy venues and verdant overbrush of curiosity,

if the sun greets me as congenially as it has

this Easter morning.

I heard fish jumping and stood quietly to see

as they arched and wriggled

in their glistening, upward thrust to break

the water’s plane and capture surface swimmers

while the statuesque Great Blue stood iridescent sentry

and egrets pilfered ‘neath the liquid glass,

as plovers nervously guarded shore nests.

I heard the coots caw “Uh Oh’s”, frond perched,

when chips and putts fell short of mark

on precision groomed greens.

Dog walkers and runners were greeted to

friendly smiles and “ Good Mornin’”.

A father patiently pedaled behind his daughter,

as she teetered precariously on training wheels

showered with his praise.

I took a well worn path today…

Past the splendor of billowing bougainvillea

burgeoning magenta, plumbago’s blue reach and ramble,

oleander’s passionate and poisonous lure,

under oak canopies bearing parasitic mosses,

spidery and grey-green,

thriving on their adopted parent…

past coastal architecture in pastel hues

capped with rolling waves and rivulets of Spanish tile

sheltering hibiscus blooms and succulent natal plum.

Is this one of His many Edens or just the one

I have encountered this Easter Day,

the work of His gentle, creative hand,

evidence of the day’s earthly and human significance…

renewal and rebirth

and  forgiveness?

As I walked alone along this common path today,

refreshed and endowed by my encounters,

I anticipate and welcome tomorrow’s miles

along those paths not yet known to me,

and all the blessings and adventure of the

discoveries that await.

Taylor Ryan

April 2007

Copyright.TaylorRyan2007