Nature’s Embrace
V1.7 Arhnem April 2024
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A lone woodpecker taps zealously on a hollow tree
Carving out its solitary sonic existence
Captivating echoes reverberate outwards to catch my gasp
I'm drawn back to the meadow, sprawled loose on the luscious grass
Your irrepressible laugh, as the sun warms our grateful bones
Acorns lay hopeful, scattered on the skeletons of fallen pine needles
Day dreaming of touching the distant clouds
Moss thrives rich, a verdant crown on a lifeless trunk
Destruction and creation fused in elegant harmony
I search for it's mirror within myself
Autumn leaves rot on a sprawling carpet of musky decay
Crackling and snapping as I tread over their hollow ghosts
Tiny spores give rise to delicate, gossamer domes
Fungus flourishes, in ever more intriguing shapes
Transforming the dead back into nourishment
For the enduring cycle of rebirth
The oldest of us... our wisest ancestor
Beneath my feet the vast mycelium kingdom
A mythical cosmos of slender white tendrils
Trading their precious secrets
For sweet succulent gifts from the sun
I'm a stranger in their world
A hitch-hiker in another dimension
New life bursts in eager buds on apple and cherry trees
Unrestrained exuberance, the tenacity of life
A stream gurgles and burbles its sweet song, seeped in serenity
My mind drifts back to our unspoken reverence for the forest
As we are brought to stillness by its sublime beauty
Fat roots snake and twist on the forest floor
Plundering the savoury soil with abandon
Unapologetic for their disruption
I see myself reflected in every turn
Dragonflies zoom past my ear
Pausing suddenly to silently hover
Their aerial prowess startling, mesmerising
A patch of miniature conifers nestles beside their towering kin
Swaying, sashaying... gracefully in the playful breeze
A forest within a forest, casting shadows of the divine
Vaulted hallways of towering guardians
A timber cathedral worthy of veneration
I'm drawn aloft, as the majestic wind surges
To carve its path through a plush sea of pine needles
Flexing the reverent trunks, all bowing to the tidal force
A liquid symphony of whispers and roars
Leaving me drenched in sumptuous waves
Fern leaves spiral in coy Fibonacci curls
Waiting for the sun to delicately kiss them open
Lounging on the velvet grass, sans shoes and socks
Supple blades caress receptive skin with a mystical energy
An almost imperceptible hum of an ancient wisdom below
I peer out along my nose, a grove of emerald green
I wonder where I came to appreciate such a delicious view?
Your enchanted lens sits so easily on my radiant face
Veiled in haze, distant mountains silently beckon to commune
A harbinger of the timeless within
Above, luminous clouds drift as islands
Morphing, contorting, transforming
Eternal sentinels across a boundless expanse
Petrels hang motionless, floating on balmy thermals
Gliding, tilting, swooping with flawless finesse
Their lyrical serenade soaring with exuberance
Wild flowers sway lazily under the affectionate morning sun
Ravishing colours, dripping in succulent perfume, to flirt with eager bees
My heart opens with their silky petals
Their sheer elegance floods my hushed soul
A breath of wind flutters across the mirror surface of a placid lake
A ripple, dancing an exquisite fleeting pattern into life
Effortlessly, it glides upward to tickle the golden leaves of a bashful tree
Flamboyant ducks and wild geese bristle with vibrant approval
I lost, adrift, absorbed in an ocean of magic, I could happily drown