Before first light
night spreads its apron
upon the lap of the earth
gathering starlight;
while ant sleeps
rare gems of silence
glisten in the dark.

Awake to the morning
in streaming gray clouds
the stark outline of trees
breathe in the stillness
of sentient Earth
speaking softly
through early light.
The day comes
with Spring force,
the rush of snow melt
flooding the valley
with the weight of water,
cleaning the deadfall
fallen in its path,
the Lazarus of winter
rising to the voice
of the living Earth.

photograph by Willard Walch

Humbled by beauty
we enter the night
holding hands
across the bridge
back to morning,
awake again to light,
to the life we have
simple and connected.
Ten thousand reasons not to love
discarded on the long road,
hard trod and rutted by faith
we walk together.

The world is full,
overflowing with concern.
People driven into the sea,
earth torn open with jagged mines,
oceans clogged with islands of refuse.
No one dare empty
before the gods of growth
yet thunder beings appear in the sky,
cast lightning into the earth.
I gather myself on the altar within
letting silence overtake me.
The whetstone of the infinite
sharpens the dull mind
to the task at hand –
quiet the hive
and prepare a room
for the guest
who might be coming.

Photograph by Patrick Orleman