-- I Stopped a While --

By John Herlihy

I stopped a while and to silence listened,

The rising sun in the heavens glistened.

At first nothing but sheer silence heard,

Then faint whisperings of a treetop bird.

The brush strokes of grasses followed,

Near a meadow with flowers gathered.

A stranger emerged from around the bend,

Newly arrived with companionship to lend.

Wandering an empty road can be lonesome,

Even with the heart light, the mind winsome.

With seconds and minutes like children at play,

Merrily ticking their way through the long day.

On the road we exchanged a passing glance,

A moment time stood still, as if in a trance.

Our eyes locked during the brief interlude,

What once felt as loneliness, now as solitude.

Too strangers meet accidentally along the way,

Exchange pleasantries during the passing day.

The pale rider had seemingly come out of the mist,

He took off his hat and held it against his breast.

How often does the stranger seem to be a friend,

A rare moment of intimacy, no need to pretend.

He looked into my eyes as though a field sowing,

His own eyes, pale as denim, whimsical, knowing.

I knew at once he would say what I needed to hear,

A once in a lifetime encounter, forever held dear.

He said: You bear the essence of a wildwood flower,

Whose petals entitled to bloom, for but a fleeting hour.

The rose will bear its color so long as its heart bled,

To move through the valley of life with a gentle tread.

Indeed, he too turned away as if his own heart bled,

Pensive, with an air of wisdom, his own gentle tread.

Fainer and fainter, already gone, into the distant mist,

Leaving behind the sensation of having been blessed.

And if it happens on earth that we will meet no more,

May we meet once again, arriving on Heaven’s shore.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 28 July 2023