For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
~ Lines from a traditional hymn
THREE LOADED WORDS
I know these sounds –
the low voices coming
through the dark in the
first flush of dawn, trees
motioning leaf by leaf
to the chorus of the wind,
and the lusty breath of the sea
heaving from abyss to shore
and back again. What voices
I do not hear are calling
in every direction, chanting
three loaded words over
and over, like a plainsong
that will be repeated
until the end of time.