Second Outting

Indian Well

6 Miles

This time I brough a friend with me. Sabbath need not be solitary. We seemed to be less organized since our path was longer than the day had time for. There was no ultimate place to sit and reflect, although, Josh and I enjoyed finding the things God and others had left for us to discover. Overall, we had a great hike with many new thoughts, ideas and beginnings of writing.

Twisted beauty encroaches.
Low laurel
and ferns
surround the path – narrow.
We climb
single file
up rocky New England soil -
evergreen.

Your coppers and greens-
leaves, hair, tumbling water, eyes,
reflect in each other.

Pine trees grow tall and straight, green arms and fingers each reach for their piece of sky.

Enthusiastic
hiker’s dog crosses our path.
He loves everyone.

Mica glitters underfoot - refracts
warming sun back
to budding trees, mimics
shiny root protected ice-wells -
earth thaws white to green.

It Has Begun

Wadsworth Falls

12 miles


I stuck to the main trail and approached it like a natural labyrinth. I focused on my surroundings until I reached my destination, stopped to pray, reflect and listen then slowly made my way back along the same path until I slowly re-entered the world.

Tiny, quick spider
before camera can focus
she has disappeared.

Sunlight uses tall bare trees, paints
bright stripes on brown and gray
decomposing remainders
of seasons past. The ones
whose leaves turn silver
under crisp waters in summer
streams now hang yellow
and limp on thin branches. Frozen
in the cold water-wind a spring
clings to rock. Twisted laurel’s
broad leaf is evergreen.


Empty swimming hole-
imported sand surrounds swamp.
No guard on duty.

New England rock wall, trees

thin and tall, moss covered reminders:

this was farm once. Now

state land. This forest is recent,

the eldest members discerned through

sturdy trunks and wide reaching branches.

Wolf trees.

Wise ones.

They remember.