Mysteries

Here, an imposing cathedral of
unparalleled beauty sheathed in
crystalline grandeur lifts its
imperious grace to the ceiling of the
sky velvet-blue with approaching
dusk, a halo of moon and the
boldness of stars impassively
observing a landscape unlike their
own of frozen gases and ancient
rock. The one below with its
living atmosphere responds to
the distance of its sponsor-star
in a frigid pause of the clamour
of growing things, unlike the
inert nothingness of cold and
distant space. This most familiar
place of time and seasons, liveliness
and curiosity, a highly specialized
experiment by nature in
randomized creative adventure.
And so, her creations look up and
peer beyond the darkness of the
unknown, certain of discovery 
and revelation holding in spiritual
sanctity the faith of guidance and awe.

Imagine That

It took the fine minds of intelligent
reason to make the assumption
that all men and women are
created equal in their raw,
subconscious desire to live
among one another in peace and
related harmony. For is it not a
just and human aspiration to give
and have respect in turn? Those fine
minds reasoned that civil institutions
on an international scale would
influence all societies to aspire
to a human standard of decency.
And so was created just such an
edifice whose purpose was to promote
good will among nations agreeing
that a resolution affirming the right
of all to standards of liberty and
the opportunity to flourish without
fear of exploitation and force
represented the most basic of
human rights that governments,
their agents and the global community
must respect, strive to achieve and
support. Tensions and conflict, abuse
and cupidity alas, loomed in the
minds of the unworthy as more
reflective of the world's and their 
own imperatives. And so, the decline
of nobility of character and intent 
set in to corrupt the institution of
peace and freedom, Reflecting in
broad outline the failed purpose of
the experiment in the human spirit
reaching toward the divine that is 
today the world's premier arbitrator
of greed and misery, avarice, poverty,
slaughter and conflict without end.

Surely You Have?

Surely you've heard it said in
hallowed tones, been informed by
someone familiar with woodland lore,
that the forests, the lakes and the
woods of this great land teem
with creatures never to be seen?
Or, yourself a visitor of frequent
forays have become aware of their
elusive, mysterious presence...?
For you will have recognized their
hidden presence by the playful
clues they leave, in a spirit of
gleeful mischief. Their presence,
absent yours, in a wild red apple 
cradled in an abandoned birdsnest.
An acorn sitting atop a shelf fungus.
Mushrooms delicately nibbled in
a distinctly lacy pattern. Tears of
joy left on wildflower petals,
like morning dew. Deliberate yet
peculiar patterns left on newly
fallen snow. The forest naiads,
dryads, imps and ghosts leaving
their cheerful messages, 
communicating with those for whom
the natural world and the world of
the odd unknown are as one.

Creation, Time and Space

An imposing cathedral of
unparalleled beauty sheathed in
crystalline grandeur lifts its
imperious grace to the ceiling
of the sky velvet with approaching
night, a halo of moon and the
boldness of stars impassively
observing a landscape unlike
their own of frozen gases and
ancient minerals. The one below
with its living atmosphere
responds to the distance of its
sponsor-sun in a frigid pause
of the clamour of growing
things unlike the inert nothingness
of cold and distant space. This
most familiar place of time and
seasons, liveliness and curiosity
a highly specialized experiment
by nature in randomized creative
adventure. And so, her creations
look up and peer beyond the
darkness of the unknown, certain
of discovery and revelation.

Impenetrably Mysterious

The relentless series of snowfalls
finally scatter themselves in a wan
flurry of exhaustion, satisfied with
the effects of their seasonal decor.
All that might seem sinister in a
leaf-shorn forest now generously
cloaked in pristine white. The sky,
reflecting the arras below, its own 
shade of white, all absorbed in the
shimmering, glimmering presence
of winter. Though it is still yet
afternoon, dusk claims the remains
of the day, adding mystery and a
suspense of furtive activity from
the forest understory to skyward
aerial reaches; of nature's creatures
settling under that plush white
sound-absorbing comforter betraying
the tracks of the residents below
and above. All, that is, but the
raptors and the night-hunting carnivores
whom the dark of night and the
creeping shadows on the snow
alert them to take swift and deadly
advantage of the comforted unwary.

Comfortless Power

The forest has been embraced
in a thick white comforter
of snow, a sight to behold, soon
followed by raging bellows of
blasting wind hurtling daggers
of ice-pelleted curtains across
the suddenly transformed landscape
from gentle beauty to raging 
fury. In the city traffic is
stock-still in the shock of
immobility, the roads a thick,
slick menace of ice. City residents
huddle in misery by candlelight
as their homes become unheated
caverns of despair. Frantic civic
efforts to defray winter's sullenly
morose excess pits frail human
ingenuity against pitiless nature,
casually reintroducing her creatures
to the reality of imperial puissance.

Heavensent Alternatives

The small unkempt crossbreed, 
overweight to the point of gross
ungainliness may appear a poor 
specimen of canine pride to a
critical appraiser, but to her
beaming owner, she is a joy to
behold, a classic of her species,
a beloved companion, a trusted
confidant. The small dog manages
to further compromise her appearance
with constant skinny dips into a
befouled, static ditch-stream
carrying off rural effluent, all the
while barking in an ecstasy of
rhapsodic transport at the pleasure
derived from her devotion to water.
Came the winter months, the
dishevelled little dog looked in 
vain for the familiarity of the
waterway, frozen and overlaid
with snow. Until it dawned that 
she can indulge alternately
burrowing into the plush depths of
newfallen snow, its purity and lack
of wretched odours, absent chemical
runoff, somehow forgivable.