MONUMENT VALLEY
“Sculptured Silence”
Deeper than thought
Deeper than words…
Deeper than emotions.
This vision casts an elegant spell
Cross sculptured lands once oceans.
When time was but the blinking eye
Of an artist so profound
That proof of all that ever was
Is dust upon the ground.
The silence speaks but whispered tones
By mortal man unknown
And yet I think I heard him sigh…
Before I left for home.
Desert, vast and barren,
Rocks and sand combined…
Your home is rich and silent
Within the shadowed mind.
Whatever man encounters
As he taps your mystery…
He’ll find it in your scattered gems,
The dust, a lonely tree.
Your music carries on the wind,
On breathless notes of fire…
And living things that listen long
Will shrivel and expire.
Water scarcely finds its way
Along your thirsty path…
But when it falls in sparkling drops,
The desert takes its bath.
The scent of life, and also death,
Pervades the rain-washed air…
With fragrance wild and varied,
Far beyond compare.
Centuries have crossed your way,
Leaving messages behind…
Starkly mute, impersonal,
For curious Man to find.
Strange shifting shapes and shadows
Struggle to be free…
They dance about on cliffside walls,
A dazzling sight to see!
The sun creates hypnotic forms
Of geometric lath…
As though performed by craftsmen
Who have mastered nature’s math.
For those who find your solitude
A subject for desire…
They’ll cross your beguiling wasteland
Until their bodies tire.
Oh denizens of this dry home,
To all who’ve learned to share…
The shadows-spirits touch your land
With their unique embrace of care.
My vantage point
Is a pinnacle of observation
Designed for awesome viewing…
The world below
And surrounding me,
Is one of sensation
And vision, extending beyond
The normal scope of light…
The distant echo
Of the rush of waves and surf,
Seemingly miniature
In its flowing symmetry,
Only because of my position
Here, high above it all…
Buffeted gently by constant breezes,
Absorbing the warm fragrance of
Pungent sand and earth
And rock of russet blue, of
Dry sage and eucalyptus,
Of the air itself…
The earth music overwhelms me
In a symphony of heights
Without bounds, a score
Of total dimension
Unending beauty
And undiminished energy…
Allowing me,
A selected audience of one,
To absorb all that is rich
And benevolent
In its offering…
I do not breathe or speak,
For I need not…
My spirit is uplifted
Beyond such demands.
What good fortune
Brings me to this world
Of sun, and sea, and air?
No need to question,
Interpret or explain…
It exists,
Transcending all that is
Mundane and mean,
Magnificent in its gifts.
And high above
This place where I sit,
The sun whispers softly…
It’s for you…
As a mighty clap of surf
Beckons the Conductor
To proceed…
Like diamonds glistening in glaciers
Or sapphires sailing in the sky…
I listen to the sound of silence,
Expecting no reply.
I do not need an answer
To questions never asked.
I simply wait…and listen…
In the quietness I bask,
Like a creature of deep luxury
With no great need to fill…
A winged soul just balancing
On a high and windless hill.
It comes to me on silken waves,
This sense of relaxation
From all that seems so immediate,
I am merely one creation
Of that which lives and breathes alone
Yet is part of all around,
A spirit force of energy
Enveloped in lack of sound.
Cushioned from the noise and stress
Of that which is imposed,
My inner source rejoices as
The bud becomes a rose.
Resplendent in the shimmering waves
Embracing what is me…
A moment of such rainbow hue
Upon my distant sea…
Beckoning, though silent,
As my wings now sense a breeze
That filters through the atmosphere
To set my being free…
And welcome it to distant lands
Where the clime is soft and mild,
And I…the one who patiently waits…
Become the newborn child.
Respect for life…in varied forms…
Begins with care for all,
All things which walk or stand or fly…
All things which grow or crawl.
Such respect…a way of life…
Begins with open eyes,
Eyes to see and hear and feel
Both laughter and the cries.
We have an obligation…
A gift that each must find,
To find our greatest service
Of heart and act and mind.
The world requires our service…
Like us, it lives and breathes,
And every thing we do to it…
A mark is what we leave.
Every act and thought and speech…
No matter what we do,
We do respectfully in kindness…
And leave a good clean view.
Do you hear the silence?
It whispers as I stand…
And though I walk alone it seems,
I love to walk the land.
Are you not afraid out there?
This question oft’ is heard…
And though my voice the only one,
I hear more than words.
The sound of wind and bush and sand,
The crunch of ancient grit…
And then the blink of lizard’s eye,
As here in quiet I sit.
Distant thunder signals me,
From darker worlds on high…
As I do open wide my arms,
Saluting kinship with the sky.
Do you not feel weary?
So many miles away…
My strength seems stronger as I walk,
The pleasure is in the play.
Are you feared you’ll lose your way?
Through canyons shadowed deep…
Oh no, but if I tire,
The stars will guard my sleep.
The evening star as much my friend
As moonlight is my mantle…
Those night sounds then a lullaby.
The comet’s eye my candle.
Aurora gives me splendor,
Awakening to the day…
Coyote tracks have come and gone,
The cat has passed my way.
Cooling waters from the stream,
Tumbling from the mount…
So many wonders all around,
Far more than one can count.
Mystery enfolds me,
No matter where I stand…
Such miracles of which I’m part,
And so…I walk the land.
His voice is heard across the land.
Alone…we hear him call.
Then…patiently…he sits and waits
For us to understand
That all he seeks is to be known,
To know that he is here.
We need but answer in our way…
That none need be alone.
I send you fragrant blossoms,
The smell of growing grain;
I send you music flowing free,
To float like falling rain.
A singing brook that tumbles,
With adventures great to tell…
Conveys to you the merry notes
Of nature’s crystal bells.
Horses grazing peacefully
Glance up to hear the sound
Then patiently resume their day
On open sacred ground.
Circling hawks wheel gracefully
As dancers of the wind
While ravens play their own ballet,
These brothers and my kin.
Children’s laughter dancing
Innocently in the sun
As proudly do the elders praise
Fair deeds of every one.
The whisper of descending leaves
Surrender to the season
As each and every living thing
Exists for its own reason.
Silent spiral of drifting snow
Which soothes the frozen night
While deep within, the spirit rests…
Renewing life in flight.
Gray wolf who stands on highest peak
Surveying all beyond
Now add his voice of loneliness,
Enriching yet my song.
I give to you the moonlit hours
To stroke your silken bed
While tenderly the music fills
Your dreams with what’s ahead.
My gift to you a love song
Through every living thing
Which thrives upon this rich good earth
Whose beauty I do sing.
Undulate, invigorate…move me to and fro…
I’m like the briny seaweed affected by the flow;
If I resist too stubbornly and stand in rigid place,
It’s possible they’ll knock me flat upon my teary face.
But if I move more gracefully within pulsing tide…
Well then I’ll roll more flexibly in safety to the tide;
Resistance then just disappears and ease has now begun,
For now the waves and I can move as though we’re one.
That first perceived as trouble has now become a dance…
Because I learned to let it go and give myself a chance;
A chance to open up my sights and set my fear aside,
To appreciate the motion of the vast and changing tide.
I have seen and felt that place
On the beach,
Near the rain forest…
It was everything I had imagined,
And more.
I watched a crystal rose-pink sunset
Over the sea,
Near the rain forest…
It captured the true essence of my life,
And more.
I felt the fresh brisk clean breeze
On the bluffs,
Near the rain forest…
It caressed my face with calm serenity,
And more.
I am the sand and the driftwood
And the light and the trees
And the color and the midst
And the music and the breeze,
On the beach
Over the sea
On the bluffs,
Near the rain forest…
At dusk I often walk or run
At a nearby park…
An island midst encroaching growth,
My personal jungle with approaching dark…
My senses bristle
At every sound
As I tread most softly the hard-packed ground.
I linger to see or hear or smell
Any sign of the world
I love so well…
Each pheasant cry or grassy rustle
Might indicate
A real-life tussle
Of life and death and natural needs,
My imagination
Now supersedes
The local sights and sounds so real
As my sense respond
To memories I feel
So deep inside from long ago
When the land was wild…
And life was slow.
Man survived
As best he might
Among the animals day and night,
Co-existing
In the natural way
Often to learn by observing and play…
As cultures of old
Once taught their young
And songs of praise and respect were sung…
I hum these tunes
From my earlier days
Of lessons learned in the ancient ways
As I trod the path…a native child…
Survive alone
In the modern wild.
Diana McGuerty’s poetry book can be found:
https://michaelmcguerty.wixsite.com/mcguerty-photography/untitled
To purchase Diana’s book ($12), send request to pecoskid@juno.com. Thank You!