The sky is flawless - not a fluffy cloud in sight. The birds sing, chatter, rustle, feast on bugs in the trees, and make their enchanting chorus in undulating waves of sound. Then, all of the birds quiet down as one solitary bird calls out in pulsing rhythm - (Maybe he's the preacher bird) - but it's short and seemingly to the point, the way a good word should be, and afterward all the other birds once more join in, singing and whistling and sweetly humming their birdsong worship.
Nature is a sanctuary to my soul. It unravels all of the confusion and anxiety, setting it all free to the breeze, carrying all of the pettiness, the mind-war and negative thoughts, away from me, so far away.
The trees are filled with all of the life-breathing joys and beauties, the plants, the grass, wildflowers, weeds, vines, moss, all gently co-existing in peaceful harmony.
The beasts of the field and birds of the air, the creatures in the sea and rivers, all caught up in a euphony that resembles a dance celebrating the uniqueness and unity that are so exquisitely woven together making a life-force, which, if studied, examined, meditated upon, sung and written about, form such a perfect example of how we inhabitants of earth should conduct ourselves and exist.
Then my mind goes to how wonderful it is that each hair on our heads is numbered, each grain of sand accounted for. How loved, how precious we each are to the Creator. Each one of us contain gifts only we can share. I find peace in knowing that I was made in a particular, well-thought-out pattern.
I am not a bird, though I admit I have envied them at times; I am not a turtle or a cow. I happen to be a human, an American female, born light-eyed and pale-skinned, in these times, no mistake, no choice in the matter. There is no use pining to be someone or something different than who I am, (though I do admit to wasting my energy on this at times) unless it's in my conduct, attitude, or beliefs and the way I carry out those creeds in my life with more boldness, acceptance, gentleness, love, kindness. Our greatest good is done when we embrace our true selves, and let that inner-embrace spill over into the way we treat others, especially they who are different than us. That is the beauty of this life - the contrasts, that we are NOT exactly alike, thankfully! How dull would be our days if we all looked alike and believed the same.
a poem:
We are drenched
in our own desires
intertwined in our tendencies
driven mad by our expectations
closed-in by the American dream
our houses are our coffins
we're buried deep in debt
the cars that we drive
end up in rusted heaps
Our educations un-school us
from simply being free
unrestrained by derision, division
to believe is to see?
Cast off imaginations
like cattle wandering off cliffs
we walked blinded to our deaths
creativity halted
embers:
the furnace within my chest
is full with ash and embers
the reason why it burns
i can't hardly remember
I shovel coal atop it
and stir the fire so soft
not one flicker escapes the bricks
to cause my friends to cough
but this burning inside my heart
is flowering out of bounds
don't know how to contain it
before it gathers into mounds.
