Mother Nature provides many avenues

to escape reality, or so I’ve found,

to adjust reality,

or to discover it.

She asks the traveler to pause and wait

For the life around us to come to life.

It was there all along,

But we did not notice.

The clouds are beaming, loving the audience,

swelling, compelling, enveloping me.

In billowing folds,

Such stories unfold.

There is a stray.

The community collects him, folds him in.

I pass this peaceful, spiraling jasmine daily.

Tonight I see it’s face for the first time.

A kind and watchful eye,

Vines that beckon an embrace.

That rouge vine,

Crawling up my rail - she’s the lookout.

The trees laugh hysterically, wind tickling

their leaves interrupts their conversations.

They turn to each other,

Asking “Who is that guy?”

After some conference,

The tall one invites me to join their tribe.

The stars are not aligned - they’re too busy

With wars to fight, and games to play, and win.

Stars, planes, spaceships, drones…

They could all be players.

A swoop across the sky.

I think that one got tired of playing.

The waves are like a heartbeat rising fast.

People stroll by, feet splashing in the surf.

Do they inhabit my same shore,

Or are they out on the horizon?

They really are beautiful,

Lives holding promise and guilt and optimism.

They pause just for today to smell the salt air.