With a heavy heart
And eyelids like stones
And a head
Leaning for want of a bed
Of moss

I lay down upon
The forest floor
And stretch out my limbs
Till they penetrate the earth
And drink its bounty

And after a long while
That heaviness
Is lifted
And my spirit rises
To drink the sun

I wait for the rain
Standing on the dry grasses
Breathing the arid breeze

And though I will hide from it
And though its gloom weighs upon me
I wait for the rain

With my eyes to the willow branches
Swaying in the wind
And my feet on the soft mosses
That fill the spaces between the grass blades

I breathe in
And breathe out
The swirling scents of a summer evening

Untroubled by the noise beyond the trees

With a sigh and a limp I walk
By the riverside
Seeking an oak tree
I once sat under

There I pondered
And wondered
As the wind rustled the leaves
And the water rushed by

Where my own river might take me
What towns and banks
And trees
I might pass by

And now I have seen them
And known them
And seek again that oak
Where first I wondered