I SEE

I see the rocks;

they broach the landscape around me,

with layered colours that tell a story

of fire and cataclysm

and a billion years of peace:

protective bedrock of life,

embracing poisons and riches

with equal might.

I walk on them respectfully.

I see the trees;

they envelop the landscape around me,

with whispering fertility that tells a story

of renewal and death,

in cycles as old as the wind itself:

guardians of the air and soil,

singing as they exhale oxygen

and scrub foulness.

I listen to them appreciatively.

I see the water;

it flows through the landscape around me,

with steady energy that tells a story

of solace and strength,

and life sustained through epochs:

heart and arteries of the planet,

nourishing the trees

and reshaping the rocks.

I canoe on it with awe.

By all these things I am seen,

and I am part of their story.

- Jeremy Whitlock (June 2023)