The trees were still there
(The ominous ones)
They looked out onto the lake
Had some floating ducks, coots
and one heron in their wake
Yet things were different
Than when I sat there many months before
In the grey of dark and with heavy heart
While this day I had two stones to cast,
And knew there’d soon be more
This load is getting ever lighter
As I learn to shine even brighter

The trees were no longer sad and dark
They were fitted with these lights
Not the fairy festive things
But white lampshades equipped with strings
Dangling like pendulums in the wind
As multiple confirmation
Of the validity of my situation

The heron spread its wings,
Against the reddening evening sky
The air was clear and bright and crisp
While an aeroplane flew by
Past one lone star beside the moon
Positioned opposite the sun: my boon.
I thought of Buddha who once recounted
‘Three things cannot long be hidden:
the sun, the moon and the truth’
With tenacity, adversity will be surmounted

The birds and trees
The luminaries and bees
Trails of clouds and Buddha confirmed
What I already knew:
All I know to know still holds true
As the plane and heron flew
Someday soon I will do too

©2013, Myriam Heffels