-- Something So Simple -–

John Herlihy

How we wish for some great miracle,

That the sun rises in the West.

That the wave crests but never breaks,

That the moon stays forever full.

That shooting stars fall into the abyss,

Great mysteries that we can adore.

But what about all those small miracles,

Warmed on a winter night by a campfire.

The fire with wood to spare still burning,

The warm stones too hot to touch.

The beating heart with joy churning,

Isn’t this simple scene transforming.

What about those things never imagined,

The red balloon against the blue sky.

The field of red poppies nodding their heads,

That shocking blue egg in the robin’s nest.

How it offsets the red of the robin’s breast,

Simple things to lift the weight of the universe.

Flying high with all those kites,

Twilight on the face thru a bay window.

Sunlight at the end of a forest path,

The peaceful calm after a storm’s fury.

Slivers of moonlight in the midnight bay,

Fireflies illuminate the night as they fly away.

Reading in the shade of a tree branch,

Walking along a path with a duck.

A flower growing under a park bench,

Fallen acorns and pine cones in burnished grass.

A light creating shadows in the night,

Puff clouds creating shade in the day.

The solitude of a tree, the peace of snow,

The misty dream of the rainbow.

Murmuring streams with a talkative bent,

Generosity of the seasons with all they lent.

The view from that countryside stone wall,

Blazing colored leaves in the blessing of Fall.

Graceful stalks waving in corn fields,

All the flowers that the garden yields.

Winter frost woven as bone-white lace,

A single tear runs down a child’s face.

The ultramarine tint of blue skies,

The intricate labyrinth of beehives.

A smile about to happen,

A frown no longer beckoned.

In her smooth cheek a dimple,

In her eyes not a single wrinkle.

Beauty in something so simple,

Such a small miracle.

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(c) John Herlihy 4 December 2018