A Summer Poem

A Summer Poem

The wind ruffles my hair and the trees and the leaves.

A path cuts through woodland, to a long forgotten place where

Peace is found. Here… between the trees and below the sky.

A bird flies overhead. The swoosh of wings in flight. Climbing higher

And higher.

Thistles grab at my legs, clinging on tightly. Stay, don’t leave,

Not yet. Sunlight hurts my eyes as it leaks

Through the gaps in the cover of trees. I wince at the harsh but

Perfectly warm light. It gets brighter

And brighter.

I hear running water, bubbling, gurgling, flowing

Freely over rounded stones. The surface twinkles

As it caches the sunlight.

There is a clearing nearby, I move closer

And closer.

I find a large stone in the perfect patch of sunlight.

The bird hovers close to the ground. It sees me,

Walking towards the stone and settling in the sun,

And it begins to lower itself to the ground, falling

And falling.

Everything stills and the sun beats down,

Pounding heavily on my shoulders. I feel it like a physical weight.

The warmth is heady, making me drowsy and slow and sleepy

But the bird is still nearby, loudly chirping

And chirping.

I encourage him over, but he hangs back, wary. The sunlight

Plays over the bird’s feathers, turning black into a mix

Of greens and blues and purples. Flowers surround the stone,

And as the breeze picks up they starts swaying

And swaying.

Two beady eyes stare up at me, but we are equal.

There is no fear, only the calmness and curiosity

Of a wild, untamed creature of the forest. He accepts me

And we rest, in the sunlight

Together.