Today within the Pine Cathedral
A chime did sound up high
Three butterflies danced, hopping from thistle to sky
…today within the Pine Cathedral
Pure yellow, as big as my hand, like fairies they prance
Pure purple, as tall as a bear, like conductors they direct
Leaning gently, holding firmly, together they do climb
Swirling higher, posing nobly, together to ring the chime
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
Dry boughs up high rattled rapidly
Dead brambles down low cracked dramatically
…today within the Pine Cathedral
The sounds they reach me as just one voice
A black bear? No. …maybe an owl?
Yet neither one is there
Just Maggie and the squirrels
Playing make-believe with me
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
Round breast feather fluffs chestnut red dipped in white
Narrow wing feather lengths a non-descript kind of grey
…today within the Pine Cathedral
Some with a hint of white dip at the tip
Some a suggestion of chestnut at the base
A splash of white splattered at the scene
Like a sloppy painter. “Kind of owl-like”, I muse
Then tilt my gaze upward, lips tightly fused
All that remains of the hollow boned thrush
Is feathers and fluff and some rare bits of flesh
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
I heard a bird I’d never seen
“Chicka chicka” (I think) sang he
…today within the Pine Cathedral
“Ding” rings the bell deep beneath from the quarry
Then imagine “chirp! cheep! chirp!”
Sped a thousand times faster
The crickets, grasshoppers, cicadae and frogs
A rumpus, a parade, a million creature chorus.
Hear the wind groom the trees in the sky overhead
Feel the fallen leaves feed the earth underneath
Smell the soft moss cleanse the path maternally
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
A spot of white caught my sight
Hungry eyes looked hard to focus the light
…today within the Pine Cathedral
Longing for a glimpse of the invisible owl
Straining and imagining my mind does peer
Swiftly then, seamlessly, the illusion is no more
A patch of sky through the trees is waving gently back at me
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
I called on the chief for his counsel
He calmed me down, he always does
…today within the Pine Cathedral
With perspectives again eagerly embraced, I watch
Maggie bounds enthusiastically in pursuit and in play
With the munks in the stumps and the wood in the way
The wind tugs at my hair till the clasp just gives up
The ocean roar in my ears is deafening my soul
Today within the Pine Cathedral
I heard nothing: an omnipotent silence
Punctuated by sunlight screaming to touch me
…today within the Pine Cathedral
I reach for it, trying to smell it, straining to taste it…yearning to hear it
The warmth eases my heart but refuses to uncage me
I collapse in submission and weep thoroughly
Today within the Pine Cathedral…
I heard a truck rumble over the hill and away
Mosquitos drank heartily from my forehead and arm
…today within the Pine Cathedral
A smiley face right before me does appear
All is as it should be with balance and in place
My heart fills full and my cup runneth over
When my two sons smile sunshine and daisies at me
Today within the Pine Cathedral