Poem: Otter Creek

Otter Creek
from 1st Thessalonians 5:16

It is hot and you sweat,
walking across high fields,
through ancient gardens,
and up strange mountains,
restless with energy,
walking further
than your old legs wish to walk,
past the familiar,
to the small pond,
quiet and still,
at creek's end,

where you take off your shoes,
and dip your feet in the icy water,
lay back on the grass,
and rest.

What have you to show for this long afternoon?
Three pictures.

A garden with a broken brick wall.
Vivid green ivy on bricks.
A single flower.

And rest.

A good afternoon's work, you realize.
A fine reward for exhaustion,
worth even,
the slow walk back.

=================

Yesterday I went for a long walk, first visiting Poplar Forest, then walking up past Peaks of Otter to Otter Creek. I actually took over a hundred pictures, but it was worth the walk to get the three I show here. You can click on them for a larger version.

Tom