Nature's Revelations: God Speaks Through Beauty
Poetry by Gill Schwartz

GRANDMOTHER MAPLE IN SEPTEMBER

The morning sun, sliding in its arc
towards the South in journey to the Equinox,
now rises behind Grandmother Maple.
The crisp shadow of her branches, these days,
sweeps across my porch. A few leaves drop,
parched brown from the summer's draught.
Birds are pleased with the seeds on the railing
— flitting chickadees, a proud cardinal,
some sparrows.

Now, through her richly leafed branches
the full moon is rising, roseate,
ascending to shimmer its white trail across the Lake.
In my visioning, I join them all;
the birds, each with its own dance, the glorious sun,
the enthralling luminous full moon drawing nearer,
I partake of them all. They reverberate in me.

Each has a secret that it reveals.
Each is a conformation of something that is part of me.
I can not, do not want to name it
more than chickadee or Grandmother Maple.
It is what grows and reaches and brings the All
into this moment, into my breath.

A solitary seagull strokes across the open blue.
His everyday flight is ecstasy, effortless ascension.
My sweet birdlike heart pangs with longing,
then leaps, and, heart to heart, we soar.

 

 

Copyright Nathaniel Schwartz 2003   www.WisdomVisions.com