Thoughts on a Nature Walk

"The Road Unbends"
The road unbends for me
between the river and great mountains
that have stood for centuries.
The dark night has settled.
A pale, thin sheet masks that stars,
but they faintly glow, and if I
gaze long enough
they appear to me.

In the mountains
I receive the earth's nourishment.
It assures me that it knows, for
it has been for countless centuries
a mother's heart
a father's unshaking arm.
The leaves rustle, and I forget
my uneasiness.
The river is steady so that I
may follow it until it resigns
and find a stillness there.

God is resting here
in His own earth. On this path
I could walk the extent
of my life, for here it is quiet,
and His voice is unbroken.

On this path knots untie themselves.
Complexities are constricted
into simple forms, and God
speaks without interruptions.
Here, time cannot unravel me.

On this night
I utter no words - I say nothing.
In nature, conversations
are spoken silently.
Not even a whisper, and it
hears what is in me.
I embrace its response.
Though is often says nothing,
I hear it listen.