A Peaceful Rest

“A Peaceful Rest”

Taking respite from the long hot day,
I trod across a quilt of dead leaves,
Through the smell of dust and rotting logs
To my hammock under two grey cottonwoods.
Clear waters flat as a mirror reflect
The sky's twinkling white freckles
And one good eye, round and bright.

Among slender reeds stands a heron,
Jabbing his long beak into the lake
In hopes a water beetle will swim by.
The bird's neck bends like a string
To preen a layer of thick blue feathers.
Large wings spread and test air currents.
The bird lumbers into the heavens as the
Wind under its wings whispers words
Only those blessed with flight can hear.

I lay back in my hammock under the trees.
Cool night breezes carry the scent of
Sleeping flowers through white moonbeams
Which end the owl's dreams of fat mice
Scampering down bare forest trails.
The primitive poetry of chirping crickets
And splash of a beaver's tail are my lullaby.
A long while after my lids have shut
The forest rests calmly, far beneath me
As cold air streams through my hair
And I listen to whispers on the wind.