Contemplation

You trudge dirt roads   a pilgrim of your heart’s desire

till your blistered feet tire

At the House of Wisdom you crawl to bed

where woods lie lovely   dark & deep

& soon you’re asleep

When you wake in the night   a full moon   large & low

shines in at your window

& a woman   standing there   lifts her hand

to keep the silence unbroken

for you’d have spoken

Out to the grassy lawn   she leads you by moonlight

to forests of the night

She instructs you to leap the deep crevice

You fly high over pines   non-stop

to the mountain top

Her name is Contemplation   grey Wisdom’s daughter

Out across the water

she shows you the island of your desire

You consider it by moonlight

as from a great height

~D. S. Martin