Its last stray leaves are clinging to the barren branches grim.
Take me where a downy gosling struggles weeping in the snow
Its tender wing is broken and its mother doesn't know.
Take me where a tiny violet is embedded in the frost
Its gentle, purple splendour will be soon forever lost.
Take me where the winds pile summer drifts of silver sand
Erasing all the hearts and names drawn there by lovers' hands.
Take me where the waters wash the limestone and the rocks
The waves are thrashing angrily against the wooden docks.
Take me where the winter snowdrifts sift and slash against the cliffs
Heights where only eagles dare are towering o'er the mist.
Take me where the rapids roar past sticks and stone and shale
They threaten every thread of man, they conquer, never fail.
Take me where a singing meadow lark is perched upon a branch
Watching over prancing ponies that have strayed from yonder ranch.
Take me on Life's pathway where each raindrop is a part
Of this world's love and beauty, for each raindrop has a heart.
For every glimpse of Nature's work, a golden thread I'll bring
And for the smallest orchid flower, Life's golden harp I'll string.
cailin raine
This piece won a Second Prize from the Poetry Institute of Canada in 1996, when the $100 prize sure came in handy. It was published in Island Journeys at the Pictorial Press in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
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