"Witness Well"

(c) Mike Stone

Raanana, February 3, 2019

Nothing in nature is hidden from us;

It has no secrets.

It is we who close our eyes

Or look away

And think it magic or unknowable,

Unwilling to give up the comfort of our ignorance.

When we walk in a forest lush

With trees standing and fallen

Beheld within the play of sun and shade

We must not be daunted

That we know not the names of sycamore or oak,

Crocuses or marigold,

Sparrows or osprey

For those names are other's names.

We are Adam or Eve reborn in every generation,

Entitled to name anew all we witness,

Providing we witness well

With the eyes we had as children

When our visions were both fresh and nameless

And the only language we knew

Was the one our mothers sang to us

Ere we were born.