emerging clearly

never before did it emerge so clearly 

clear as a petal on a pond

soiled leaves rotting in the forest

rocks disintegrating grain by grain

dew drop on a clover reflecting a 

100 year old redwood tree

the hills singing praise for wet winds 

dark ponds finding completion

as the grains from the rocks

the leaves and needles and the petals

fill the pond

smothering the water in a brown 

symphony of muck and rotting bark

later becoming a meadow with flowers and trees

the bottom sinking in layered glory

to become a rock 

emerging as a shelf beside a quiet pond

to disintegrate again

and join the trees and leaves and flowers

once again in a reunion of ancient glory

in the pond under the redwoods

richard nichols

june 09