Years First Walk

This semester is off to a great start. Everyone is pondering new beginnings.
Therefore, I would like to share a bit of poetry from last year. Every year, (and many days in between), I like to go for a hike or walk and clear my head, arrange goals, and just sit quietly and watch nature. This post is a reflection I hope will be enjoyable.

Many happy years to come for each and every one!

Years First Walk

I went for a walk in a wood

One cloudy winter's day

Not cold, not icy, but

Bracing - in that refreshing way

There was no real path

Laid down by careful hands

Just crispy leaves, damply trodden...

Strewn flakes of gold carelssly scattered

Over chocolate fondant

Enveloping and nurturing the dewy, spongy land

This journey began auspiciously:

A falcon stopped me - on my feet

I stood - not breathing

Listening to my heart beat

"What beauty!" I whispered to no one

Awed at its majesty

"Splayed elegance in flight,"  I murmured

Thinking of what it reminded me

I sighed, a bit listless

As I gazed at the barren wood

For I knew once before

Where the blazing colors stood

Nonetheless, onward I trekked

and thanked God for the air

Cleansed by swaying pines

and towering oaks stationed wherever where.

Crossing a 'Meandering Stream'

By a sturdy plank of bridge....

      Looking down,

       I saw the sound,

        As its tranquil liquid spilled

        Staying there,

         Looking where,

         the streamed flowed softly by

          A melody

           Came back to me

            A story

             Met my eye

              Grounds shift

               Roots rift

                Giants topple

                 and there they lay

                All because

                 the stream I saw

                 Gently chose a different way

There I stood,  alone , in that wood

and greeted the light of day

For I'd been asleep

and was unaware...

Until the waters began to say:

'You belong'

Here with me...

'You belong'

It said silently...

Breathing deeply

I understood

Why I was to walk

That barren wood

Up I went

Step by step

Gaining strength

Though I should be weak

Further on

I felt my song

Rising with me

Growing....

The stream I met -

Its tender power

Was there inside me

Flowing....

There was a seat

As I reached the peak

and there I sat

Knowing....

All doubts are past

I have (at last!)

Met the person I am to be

And may I say,

On that bracing day,

I left that wood

Glowing...

Hadassah R Patterson