Smoke on Hidden Lake. Eagle Cap Wilderness

Smoke on Hidden Lake (X.5.2009). Eagle Cap Wilderness [click photo for next . . . ]
On the road in the American Northwest.




I'm too poor in this world, and yet not
poor enough . . .
after Rilke


I'm too poor in this world, and yet not poor enough

just to stand before you like a Buddha,

or naked, like a new-born babe;

I'm too clever in this world, and yet not clever enough,

just to vanish before your eyes

like a leaf, or blade of new spring grass.

I want my world to be shaped by meaning, by sense,

not by greed, or envy, or corporate gold.

I'm sick of war, of waste, of conflict,

of presidents who lie, and governments

who slaughter in my name and call it peace.

I want to walk with those who speak

a wholly different language;

I want to be with those who ask questions, real

questions, and who listen with a certain selfless fierceness

regardless of where the answers lead.

I would like to sing.

And I want my song to resonate with your whole being

and not just some narrow backwater of your soul.

I would like to pray, I would like to

pray that my song comes alive with energy,

like the sound of rushing water,

like the ecstatic counterpoint of ravens

after all the hunters have gone home,

like a bell ringing out on all its sides from a misty hill,

like the sound of falling snow beneath

the celestial dome that gives us both refuge

in this most mysterious, uncharted wildness of all.





| download mp3 | 4,5 Mb [Windows: r click; Mac: opt + click] |


IX.27.2009,
Heather Camp,
Eagle Cap Wilderness








Featured gallery, mountain water . . . .

| mouse over for controls/ lower right for full-screen view |





All Photographs & texts by Cliff Crego © 2012 picture-poems.com
(created: X.22.2009)