If there is anything

More lovely than

A yellow butterfly

Alighting on a thistle

I don’t know

What it would be,

Unless it was the sight

Of a pair

Of goldfinches

Flying along

The fence row

Like an exuberant

Release of joy.

My own heart lifts

As I stroll along

The graveled ruts

Of our long

Drive,

Breathing in

The earthy, herbally scents

Of the fresh mown hayfields

To either side

Of me,

And basking in

The rare dry air

Of an otherwise hot

August day.

Not so long ago

I avoided such walks

Until, one day,

I faced the truth

That I needed to walk

For health

And psychological

Reasons,

And thus it began,

First as a chore,

Something that

I needed to do,

Then, slowly,

Oh so slowly,

I began to find

The pleasure in it

As Nature herself

Worked her magic.

Now I can hardly wait

To take my strolls,

Sometimes even taking

More than one or two

Over the course

Of my day.

As I look back

I feel sorry

For the person

I had been,

Then, as I look ahead,

I relish the person

I have become.