Whale Dreams

Exposed are we,
voyageurs crossing
this great expanse-

One tiny vessel
bearing life’s weight,
two oars to navigate

Unknown depths below
and shadows murky –
we push on. Row. Row.

Sights set on new land
uncharted possibilities –
pray the crossing favours us

Then a shape emerges –
great hulking mass –
parting waters,
rising and transforming

Is this a caricature of our fear?
I am mesmerized,
project a divine presence
look for mystical signs

He shrugs,
pragmatically notes that
the St Lawrence is home
to such mammals

I dream of whales,
crave communion –
yearn for their certainty
their knowing

Just as I wait for a sign
from the departed –
inviting a simpler life,
inspiring hope…

A shore life,
from which I can observe
the numinous.

(Image my own. This is a rewrite of an earlier post)

Oh, Fences

There, beyond the fence lines
amid the birch and firs
I find my breath

Does graze, and fawns skip
as if they are children
chasing butterflies

An abundance of harmony,
ego leads me to believe,
but it is only denial

The bulldozer snorts
and rumbles into view,
deer and I lifting heads

Tails raised, the four-legged scatter,
hide themselves within the brush –
Is such shelter adequate? I wonder

Human demand eroding the green –
We talk about living minimally –
fail to consider God’s creatures

Whose very existence shrinks
within the confines
of expanding fences.

(Image my own)