Taught by Nature

Four Loons Webb Lake, Weld, Maine

Taught by Nature

Kissed by the Divine Ones are they

Who need not be taught

That a mother is rich when

She carries a child,

As the loon and babe who

Both rides and glides on her back;

Sacred even before its first cry

Or sound; cherished thereafter;

Never judged by its hue--or backdrop,

Like all the birds which gather

In the spring under a soft sunrise

That nearly makes you weep;

Or the vast night sky in the country

When you have left all the lights behind;

Of the moon whether slivered or whole;

Character has every color,

Eyes that gaze a soul,

Integrity--many feet;

So I, merely one, shall not judge thee

Until many moons after--

We meet.

© 1997 Connie Nelson Ahlberg