A REFUGE FOR POETS WHO WRITE IN THE LYRIC TRADITION,
WITH RHYME AND METER, WITH OR WITHOUT MUSIC
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CELEBRATING THE ELEMENTS
I stood upon a mountain long.
Before me stretched a rolling green.
And to my heart came a quiet song,
A ballad only mountains sing,
Saying:
“Rivers rise, waters flow,
Our ridges high come and go.
From summits grand to ocean sand,
Time is all we know.”
I tiptoed in a river bed,
Rushing quick through stones and wood.
And to my ears the current said
A poem as only rivers could,
Saying:
“Winds ripple, breezes blow,
Our winding paths come and go.
From thunderstorms to oceans borne,
Time is all we know.”
I breathed a deep draught of air,
Filling lungs with soulful life.
I could not see, knew not from where,
Voiced the wind a passing rite,
Saying:
“Fire flickers, embers glow,
Our gusts and gales come and go.
From chiming bells to ocean swells
Time is all we know.”
I watched a forest up in flame.
The wind spread fire far and wide.
And yet, in time, brought quenching rain
That beautified the mountainside,
Saying:
“Earth and fire, wind and water,
Father, son, mother, daughter,
Ever blending, never ending,
Time is all we know.”
Antlers, Oklahoma, 2006
(lyrics co-authored by John Mark Ramsey II)
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