A Trail Through Gray and Brown

A Trail Through Gray and Brown

Leaving tended gardens behind,
following a trail through fields
of tall prairie grasses
and woods latticed with
arches of almost bare limbs
in hibernating birth;
a trail of gray and brown, muted green
undertones and flecks of yellow holding on like
small dabs of paint on canvas.
A trail down to the river.

Mulched pieces, gravel
for feet to walk,
to follow, to find
the silence of the other, the
non-sound – defined by what it is not.
Down to the river, small
but swiftly moving, silently, a liquid
emerald coursing in silence through its
channel, older than
faith.

Silence: the measure of what is.
Sound: the measure of what is not.



(Photos taken at Shaw's Nature Reserve, Nov. 28, 2009. Top photo is of the Outlook Trail, facing north. Bottom photo is of the Meramec River, facing south.)