PART TWO
The snow
Patched
The path turning brown
Trees
Smelling of pine
Small plants growing
And soon the brooks
The streams running
And ponds blue—
The skies of the earth
Progressing forward
Slowly
But passing quickly
Hand in hand
Moving Into the forest
Giant trees
And little ones
Plants of all kind
Searching for the sun
Peeping through
For the life giving rays
And little animals
Affectionate for the lady
(Even as I)
Peering from homes
And closer
Even the big animals
Tromping through the woods
Came to look
Indeed
The woods were alive
Surrounding the trailing path
A greener forest
And thinning snow
She grasped
My hand
Tighter
And as we continued
She spoke again
Of her coming journey
"*Soon
I must leave
For the coastal cities*"
She said
"*But when
My mission is finished
We will settle down
And have
The rest of our lives
Together*"
Her voice
Carried
On the whispering winds
Through the pines
As she spoke further
I noticed
High in the sky
Above
A black dot
Growing larger
As it circled
Lower
And lower
Slow
And slower
"*I shall
Follow the plan*"
She said
"*For there
I may help a few,
Perhaps
Produce a spark
To kindle a light
For those
In the coastal cities*"
The dot grew larger
And larger
Til finally
I saw him
The huge black bird
Circling
long
and
slow
He stooped to a dive
And looping
Swooped low
Then up again he flew
This bird seemed familiar—
Had I seen him before?
"*But the days
Before I leave
I would
Stay
With you
"*Together again
In the woods—
To learn and love
To live together
To know the happy ways
Of happy days
"*And this is why
Now
We travel a new path
"*On our way
To my father's summer cabin*"
The bird
Flew higher
In the sky
Became again
A black dot
Then disappeared
"I watch in wonder -
And I know
That here
In the woods
I am out on a limb
In these
Green mansions
I feel as of
A stranger in a strange land
And I understand not
The circling of that bird
Black -
In the sky -
The raven
"But still
The woods are crisp
And fresh
They are kind to me
And I enjoy
Your mountains"
I looked about,—
The sky
(What could be seen)
Was blue—
Little white clouds
Sent fluffy messages,
The trees whistling pines
And small meadows were green
With crossing streams
With crossing butterflies
Walking on
We talked
With joy
Happiness love,
Now hand in hand
Then arm and arm
Around
And the beauty of all
The day passed quickly
And walking
Talking
She led me upon the path
Beautiful
We should spend some time
Together
We would live for a time
In the cabin
For a while
Short long
Micro macro
A day or two
A year of two
Infinity
Never-ending
And greatly
To be together
Soon came the night
Dark and light
The moon and stars
And slumbered away
And came the sun
And we traveled on
Time passed upon the path
And soon
So soon
Around a bend
Ribboning
And over a hill
Small
And down
Down
In a dell
A small meadow—
There was the cabin
Brown logs
Long
logs
Meeting to unify
For the sake of shelter
And
A steep roof
To enlighten
The weighty snow
(But not that day)
Down the path
Approaching
Easily opened the door
How grand
Simply
For a log cabin
Exploring
Finding
Few rooms
Many books
Many papers
Poems
Stories
Essays
Even blank pages
Simple
But many windows to see from
A cabin for her father
Meditating
Exploring the depths of the mind
Exploring people
Exploring life
"In this room,
In this cabin
I can see your father—
A great man"
"*Yes*"
She answered
Across her eyes
A momentary flicker of longing
Then the happy love
Again
The smile
The wisdom of life
In the cabin
Lying
Peacefully we went to sleep
Lying side by side
On the cultured rug
And the crackling
And popping
The fireplace
Devouring the wood
Smoldering carbon
And belching gases
Up the chimney
"Ah
The happy love of life
(But oh the sorrow
That man must fight wars -
Be miserable—suffering and death
To understand the worth
Of happy love)
We talked away
The day
Reading
Exploring
Running the meadow
And fell the night
But
Here we are
Now
Think not of man's sorrow
With beauty about
And the lady
Beside,
Experience and
be
Yes,
The lady
And happy love
Ah yes,
The rivers
Trailing my pen
Telling a story of life
Showing the way
For those who will,
Showing the beauty of life—
The beauty
All around
Running free
The rivers of life
Curved
In lines of wisdom
Flowing
flowing ever outward
To the stars,
Bringing me to the knowledge
Of other planets
Traveling the speed
Of infinite rush
Life ever abundant
But different
Dreaming—
The mind awake
And the brain at rest
Observing
From light years away
The planet so blue
Spiraling close
And closer
The people so hurried
And worried
Material concern
While viewing through the lookingglass self
They bring me down
And compare
Of the coastal cities—
Complex societies
Complex technology
Orchestrated by primitive people
Anxieties and hatred
Outweighing happiness
And seldom seen
The essence of infinite law
War all around
Technological machines of destruction
By destruction and for destruction
The human ego rises
To bring down the material—(A paradox
Certainly
As the ego destroys that
Which the ego desires)
But there are those
Who fight the wars
With love
Seems futile,
But they ever persist—
Bring out the pen
And write the futility
Of war
Look—
A poem in the deluge
Of Earthly works: