If the World is Ending

 

If the world is ending,

come walk with me into the forest.

It has been this verdant, this silent,

this peaceful, for millennia.

The angry voices do not enter here,

where humans are respectful guests.

This is home for deer, raccoons, owls,

eagles, small scurrying creatures.

Stealthy cougar, big black bear

and shy, elusive wolf move invisibly
through the trees,

curl up in the vacant bowls of ancient cedar,

evading us, as we have taught them

we are to be feared.

See the tiny mushrooms, banquet

for fairy folk. Breathe in

the color green: fern, salal,

old man's beard, lichen,

moss soft and plush
as a princess's pillow.

If the world is ending,

walk with me along the shore.

Hear the waves singing

their forever song.

This much beauty feels like prayer,

even if the prayer is only

an expanded heart and "Thank You."

If the world is ending,

sit on a log with me.

Gaze into forever and watch

as the huge, golden-red fiery sun

goes down.

source

This poem was inspired by the title of Patrick Ramsay's poem "If the World is Ending."