LATE OCTOBER AFTERNOON

CYCLE OF POEMS



I.


A clear stream

Borders the yellow wood

Where long I sat

My back supported by a sturdy oak

My eyes filled with rippling poplars

My breathing in tune with the sighing wind.



No other creature saw me, silent, there

Save one startled red squirrel.

Wispy clouds traversed the blue sky beyond the cattailed marsh

As I gazed, bemused, and watched leaves fall to the trail

One by one.



II.



O God who lights the maples' flame

In the quiet wood, I praise your name.

O God who placed the azure sky.

In awe, I call you Lord Most High.

O God of squirrel and stream and deer

In the autumn sun, I find you here.



III.



My pastor says a shadow has no life

It exists as an absence of light

And evil is the same



But here I sit and watch the dark of shadows on the ground

Now every tree's a silhouette.

There are shadows all around.



And evil seems to me a solid thing

Not just a lack of good

A force, a heavy burden

It mocks our doing what we should.



Perhaps it's all illusion

We cannot choose our way

We only dream of choices

As we move through our day.



IV.



What ancient lonely traveler

Once lingered here awhile?

Who dipped a hand in water

And drank with a subtle smile?



Did a woman dig the earth bare hand?

Make pots of reddish clay?

What dreams and hopes arose on high

From where I sit today?





V.



My bank account is rather small

Don't drive a fancy car

I never aim to travel much

From home I don't stray far.



I'm blessed beyond all measure, though

With health and family

With faith, with purpose and with joy

And sweet serenity.



For all the gold in Zurich

Is never going to buy

The things that count in this old world

That make your spirit fly



Like the sunrise on the meadow

A puppy's joyous bark

Hot chili on cold afternoons

Or kisses in the dark.



The flow of words on a white page

An email from a friend

A smile, a touch, when you are blue

My list will never end.



Oh Lord help me appreciate

The wealth I have today

And help me spend it as I go

Help me give it all away.


Jill Cline
10-21-07