The Hawthorn Hedge

Flower beds,

climbing beans,

cabbages, crisp and clean,

the narrow ditch

where nettles sting.

Snail tracks glisten

like silver threads on

the pile of stones at the garden end.

On hands and knees I hold my breath,

gaze through the gap

in the hawthorn hedge,

to the meadow,

where white horses tread.

And everywhere I look,

is new.

(You never forget that view.)

When I was very young, nature engaged in my make-believe games in complete and total co-operation. In my Grandmother’s garden, every day brought a new discovery, stored in my memory box of sights, sounds, tastes, touch and smell, emotions almost beyond a language of descriptive adjectives. Someone said that birds, and animals perceive the world in a different way to humans, this is possibly true, up to a point. But what if, as adults, the ability to listen with our senses diminished along with our outgrown childish toys. The world is more than it seems, it speaks the language of the heart that we are all connected to. I trust my heart to engage with nature in total and complete gratitude.

6 Comments

A lifetime spent learning nature’s language would not be a wasted one. Lovely post. I enjoyed it so very much.

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maskednative says:

May 4, 2013 at 9:16 am

Thank you Zen Doe, it makes me very happy to know you enjoyed my post, high praise indeed. Nature’s language is the simplest to learn, and yet, contained in those few seconds/moments, of our awareness,it offers a lifetime of incredible wonder.

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Oh… I so love your thoughtful remembrances and this poem. If you haven’t already read David Abrams, I think you would be enticed by his descriptions of sentient communication…very like your own. ( The Spell Of the Sensuous) For instance..when we perceive another sentient being we must understand that it is a mutual perception….they are also perceiving us.
Beautiful expression…Thank you !

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maskednative says:

May 4, 2013 at 9:07 am

Thank you, j.h.white, it is heart-warming to share one’s quiet experiences of the natural world with another perceptive soul. Thank you so much for your appreciation. I will certainly take your advice to look up David Abrams and look forward to reading The Spell Of The Sensuous.

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