Ovation

		

“…the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
—Isaiah 55: 12 – The Bible

With the dawn light they came,\

rising up from the shadows alone or in rows\

or clustered in coppices, thickets and groves
Strong and silent they came,\

as if now unearthed and yet rooted in time,\

their rings harbouring secrets of growth and decline
From the hillside they came,\

from forest and avenue, heathland and park,\

horse chestnut and sycamore, cedar and oak
Like pilgrims they came,\

steadfast in purpose, as one in their search\

for the simple and sacred, the healing of Earth
All together they came,\

and as we gasped for breath offered up their pure air\

in a song of thanksgiving for what had been spared
For the slowing of life to the rhythms of grace\

a pause from the ravaging, a lull in the race.\

Then from deep in their branches the sound of applause\

surging up through the canopy, Nature’s “Encore”.
From Even In The Shadow – Mole Valley Poets Anthology 2020