A gentle stroll along well worn pathways,
Footstep beckons thought down memory lane,
Shrieks of childhood fun, or sweat of farm endevour.
Engrossed, fond memories guide my way.
Curious cattle line up in guarded honour ,
Butterfly weaves and flaps in merry play.
Mother fox arrests her step in wonder,
briefly stares, and scurries home once more
Nature soothes if life entangles
Lifts the soul's refreshing prayer,
Scented blooms evoke enchantment
Beckons all Creators way.
Pied Beauty
Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844 - 1889
Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.
