until

not until my later years, now, have i

truly looked into the eyes of love

did not see it in my innocence,

still pure and in youthful attire

not having felt its warmth of heart,

its soulful value

not until i saw tears of another,

seeing their open hands reaching out

unkempt and empty,

pacing back and forth, talking to a darkness

only their eyes can see and knowing

no one feels them, unseen, no one cares

have now observed the lowly last flower bent over,

leaves brown and drooping, hanging by its sides,

and its bonnet with fallen petals hangs downward

in lamenting with the others already lying down

upon the Earth’s chest as Summer’s sun moves

farther away and a cooler air replaces warm

as the day grows shorter causing Mother Nature to

put on a coat of browns and orange, yellows and russets

until i saw an eagle feed its eaglets in the nest,

a mother wolf lay with its pups at dusk to rest,

tall trees sway in the music of the wind

whispering to each other the day's events

and the running streams flow into rivers and the

rivers into oceans while the stars wink at the waves

and the vane moon looks at its reflection, the

seagulls and the egrets fly across its face to find a

settling place until another dawn arises and my

heart swoon by the love of a new day