I heard that temple gong, amid their padding footfalls upon
polished stone and old wood
I listened as the peaceful church bells tolled out once more
with the coming of the evening
The mystic loon calls carried from far out across the lake,
honoring that long June twilight
Their meditative chanting briefly revealed a place where I
had always hoped to remain
An eagle cried out from impossibly far above my thoughts in
that deep blue mountain sky
The wind spoke through the pines and then went off, sighing
to itself among the aspen
For hours I listened as the entire world made music there,
upon that one tiny creek
I felt so safe as the warm evening rain tinkled softly down
upon that old metal roof
I spaced my thoughts between the bird calls, and so they
came and went
The distant thunder rolled across and away in echoes, one
peal cascading upon another
All during the night, the peaceful sea took a restful breath
with each single wave
Their music carried me to a place where I just wished that I
might someday abide
Wolves howled in cold and lonely wonder at the mystery that
stood their coats on edge
Fingers scraped the strings between the beautiful chords
they strung together like pearls
I heard nothing but my own footfalls for such a long time,
so far out on that empty trail
Their roosters began calling just before the dawn, helping
to set me on my way once more
Huge branches creaked above me as those giant sequoias
stretched up for the coming rain
Familiar elder voices carried gently up the wooden stairs
and I fell securely into a child’s sleep
That wind chime bore a message about something that I felt I
should have always known
The simple croaking of those wet green frogs briefly made
everything seem alright again
I found the white noise of the waterfall once more, carried
along within that giant crowd
The roar of my own heavy breathing filled my ears where the
way was long and steep
In that Apache sandstone, the wind drifted and eddied, as
ancient shadows came and went
The rich timbre of her voice lingered in my memory and often
came to me in dreams
Our crackling fire brought a deep sense of well being
despite the vast surrounding darkness
I passed long hours to the purring of that calico cat who
rolled on the wool blanket in my lap
After my escape I noticed the internal deafness caused by
always having to shout out my thoughts
The soft sound of snowflakes upon my cap, many at once,
began, at last to set me straight
The mysterious music sometimes emerging from my flute both
delighted and surprised me
I took a sideways satisfaction in that here, the jets were
too high for their sound to reach me
The quiet repetition of that empty phrase helped settle my
breathing and clear my head
I noted drowsily that the shouts and laughter of the playing
children did not disturb me at all
I saw that, from a great enough distance, the ugly roar of
heavy traffic faded to a soothing hum
I nodded saying nothing until, at last, even they had
finally heard themselves for quite long enough
I turned ever so slowly to the surrounding silence, so very
pregnant with everything, all at once
Atmlast things maybe even begin to sound like the rest of my life really should
have always been
