Ploviophile

When falling out of sleep
and the land of gentle dreams
faint thoughts of despair for the world growing in me
the previous night turning me over
begin to fade as I step outside
to breathe in the new day

Like an emerging wave
from far away at sea ebbing
I think back to mere hours ago
as I lay awake in the night startled but not surprised at the least sound
inside my head growing
in fear of what my life
may have been or may be,
or even isn’t

Turning it over and over like a cat’s cradle yo-yo, again and again
hanging from a thread, spinning
I go deep in my mind’s eye dreamily
and lie down with wet leaves
where the wooded crane
surveys his beauty
on water’s reflection
nearby the company
of a great heron feeds languidly aptly taking
startled fish down in one swift gulp
I realize how quickly
all things can all change

Coming into peace
among where the wild things are
who do not tax their lives
with forethought
of grief nor ego
I come into the presence of once still water disrupted now by torrential rain and a nearby waterfall swelling down the hill
feeling it cool, soothing as it surrounds with persistent sound and determination
to rush to fill the stream below

I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for dusk with their light
shedding night cloak
hidden by storm clouds and heavy canopy of trees

For a time
I rest
in the grace of the world
and her perpetual nature
and am free