the photo I took when I was 10 years old
Rocky ravines enveloped with greens
swaying clutched in the midst of
wee wildflowers tawny and light
and slippery with the damp left over
from the morning’s wash
blown from the raw Atlantic
I giggle stumbling in delight
my hands outstretched
ready for any tumble
to press me one with the earth
traversing the trails of the
noble men of Arthur
this time capsule of nature
the brisk air sweeping my hair
and whispering I am not the first
nor the last
to find footing in the valleys
button eyes following my journey
hidden in brush, nodding that
there goes another, again
powder sky beckoning me to climb
even as chalky wisps sweep overhead
grip my way up to the precipice
where puffins and horizons await
I remember dirt under my nails
and lamenting my lost umbrella
how sad I thought my mother would be
I wasn’t able to climb clean
but panting I gained the crown
and stood in wonder at the scene
opened up as a scroll
a table before me
the flat foundations running right
over the cliffs into the water yet
I stood above the crashing fray
and I swallowed the salt air
and let it soak into my cells and
closed my eyes for the liars they were
and imprinted in my ten year old mind
the artistry of God’s hands
and then knew I was one of His
handiwork too, winsome and
as fair a flower’s bloom
encased in the seed of a moment
and embraced the wait of
His timely renewal in spring.
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