Written Summer 2014, still in SlC, prior to my trip.
City Lights
City lights glisten and twinkle from your balcony
I look out over building tops and street lights
The twinkling of the insomniac city imitates the stars
We become mesmerized by man’s creations
As I gaze upward toward the natural sky…
She is empty
A vast ocean of navy fading into ebony
Where are her twinkling eyes?
I search for Mother Nature’s shimmering tears
Which she only sheds at night
My eyes scan the dark horizon for
Her flowing strands of white hair
Streaking the midnight sky
Exploring eyes,
Only find emptiness
The heavens are void and black
Nature and beauty drown
In the incessant drive of humans to “better” the Earth
Constantly creating, we
Forget the Mother who created us
The first great painter
The mighty architect
The angelic voice of wind, and thunder
The gentle whisper of bubbling brook and chirping birds…
Earth.
We drown her teardrops in obsessive narcissism and
Mimic her twinkling eyes with light, hard on the soul
What is meant to bring clarity, only clouds vision
Pushing our souls to work, play, cry, laugh - never resting
From dusk till dawn we carry on
Forgetting to gaze toward the sky and
Thank the crescent moon for allowing us respite darkness
Forgetting to fall in gratitude to our knees and
Thank the full moon for shedding just enough light to show us she is still there,
Yet not enough to wake our resting souls
Forgetting to search for nature’s strands of glistening white hair
Creating a painting through the night sky
Life’s stories aligned, yet untold
We lose sight of depth with
Electromagnetic screens
Illuminating our faces night and day
With expectations that at the flip of a switch comes light
With the forgetfulness that we were meant to sleep
We drown our sorrows in constant entertainment and vigor
We run our human species into the ground with
Graveyard shifts and walmarts and pharmacies
When all we truly need is sleep
… And all due to electricity
From your balcony, I once more gaze into the midnight sky
Drained of her color and vibrant diamond eyes
I catch a twinkle
Through squinted eyes I see past our manmade city lights
I pause to thank the moon, who shows her face in spite of fabricated illuminations
I see a single twinkling speck
A sparkle of hope
A reminder that though clouded by chaos and hypocrisy…
Nature lives on.
She exists
Regardless of our lacking
She supports us though we destroy her
She cries twinkling tears in the night sky,
Even when we refuse to look
I am reminded I am not alone
I am a creature born of the dirt of the Earth
And stardust in my hair
I make the decision
To thank Nature’s sky by night
To live free in her Sunbeams by day
To remember that…
Perspective is everything
Though nearer city lights may entice
My soul belongs to the Earth
And she shall never leave me wanting
Thus, I shut off the electricity, and sleep
With the fawn of the fields and birds nestled in their branches
I shut my eyes with the setting of the sun
And tilt my smile toward the sky,
With the dawning of the new day
I thank nature for her kindness
In allowing me darkness to rest,
And sunlight to live
She truly is an artist.
City Lights
City lights glisten and twinkle from your balcony
I look out over building tops and street lights
The twinkling of the insomniac city imitates the stars
We become mesmerized by man’s creations
As I gaze upward toward the natural sky…
She is empty
A vast ocean of navy fading into ebony
Where are her twinkling eyes?
I search for Mother Nature’s shimmering tears
Which she only sheds at night
My eyes scan the dark horizon for
Her flowing strands of white hair
Streaking the midnight sky
Exploring eyes,
Only find emptiness
The heavens are void and black
Nature and beauty drown
In the incessant drive of humans to “better” the Earth
Constantly creating, we
Forget the Mother who created us
The first great painter
The mighty architect
The angelic voice of wind, and thunder
The gentle whisper of bubbling brook and chirping birds…
Earth.
We drown her teardrops in obsessive narcissism and
Mimic her twinkling eyes with light, hard on the soul
What is meant to bring clarity, only clouds vision
Pushing our souls to work, play, cry, laugh - never resting
From dusk till dawn we carry on
Forgetting to gaze toward the sky and
Thank the crescent moon for allowing us respite darkness
Forgetting to fall in gratitude to our knees and
Thank the full moon for shedding just enough light to show us she is still there,
Yet not enough to wake our resting souls
Forgetting to search for nature’s strands of glistening white hair
Creating a painting through the night sky
Life’s stories aligned, yet untold
We lose sight of depth with
Electromagnetic screens
Illuminating our faces night and day
With expectations that at the flip of a switch comes light
With the forgetfulness that we were meant to sleep
We drown our sorrows in constant entertainment and vigor
We run our human species into the ground with
Graveyard shifts and walmarts and pharmacies
When all we truly need is sleep
… And all due to electricity
From your balcony, I once more gaze into the midnight sky
Drained of her color and vibrant diamond eyes
I catch a twinkle
Through squinted eyes I see past our manmade city lights
I pause to thank the moon, who shows her face in spite of fabricated illuminations
I see a single twinkling speck
A sparkle of hope
A reminder that though clouded by chaos and hypocrisy…
Nature lives on.
She exists
Regardless of our lacking
She supports us though we destroy her
She cries twinkling tears in the night sky,
Even when we refuse to look
I am reminded I am not alone
I am a creature born of the dirt of the Earth
And stardust in my hair
I make the decision
To thank Nature’s sky by night
To live free in her Sunbeams by day
To remember that…
Perspective is everything
Though nearer city lights may entice
My soul belongs to the Earth
And she shall never leave me wanting
Thus, I shut off the electricity, and sleep
With the fawn of the fields and birds nestled in their branches
I shut my eyes with the setting of the sun
And tilt my smile toward the sky,
With the dawning of the new day
I thank nature for her kindness
In allowing me darkness to rest,
And sunlight to live
She truly is an artist.