Within the clouds

Within the clouds

Within the mountains

Within the universe,

All things are living and alive.

The universe, a friend.

There is no death,

No shrouds

No hearse.

Only the pale shadows

That flit, mothlike

Between the standing centuries

Of drifting snow.

Only the lost call

Of the raven

Who will find his mate again nearby

In the green sheltering cottonwood tree

Only the young giants, wandering

On a dim, mistaken world

While overhead

Calling in the mist,

The Great Winged Beings

Are there

Still – soaring upward,

Friends of the night,

The sun,

And the dragons of old

Yet the fires of kindness

Burn in the night of gleaming intent,

In the eyes of Heaven

In the soul of the mountains

In the heart of the eternal world.

In the night,

In the day

That is to be,

Always here,

Always near,

While the penguins dive

Into the white-tipped waves of the Antarctic sea –

Jubilant

And ever-free.

© Copyright, Sharon St Joan, 2021

If you like this poem, you might also like this website, Forest Voices of India https://forestvoicesofindia.com