An Encounter With Nature

What breaks my heart, I ponder for a while

Standing by a wide crater, an erstwhile pool.

As a goat fruitlessly loiters for a blade of rye

Bleating endlessly to its unseen master's cry.

The woods pose a dreary look in the evening sun.

No green leaves or humming birds to add any sense.

Rustling leaves hiss and flutter on the parched ground

In merriment or torment, I cannot comprehend.

As I lean against a scalding rock surprised 

Unsure why my heart feels so dismayed.

Suddenly things around me begin to move faster

As if my inquiry is about to get an apt answer. 

The dry leaves blanketing the earth swirl with haste.

The goat in the pit begins to run ecstatic.

The leafless trees too start waving their empty hands

As though in a conspiracy to transform my mind.

I feel a gush of cool air wafting through the woods

In an attempt to soothe my body and mind.

Up above, the sky begins to run its show

As a subtle black veil covers the moving clouds.

The first raindrops dissipate into steam from the rock.

Sooner the rain picks up momentum to strengthen its attack

And clap hands with the withered leaves beneath the trees

Before filling my nostrils with the smell of earth.

No sooner a distant thunder forcibly invades my ears

Than the nimbus clouds vanish from the canvas

Leaving the sky clean like it was before

And send tons of love to the earth.

  

The goat comes out of the pit, apparently seeking its herd

And share the joy of the impending rainy period.

The leaves settle still, thanks to the rain that made them moist,

Getting ready to decompose and enrich the soil beneath.

I realize hope and love filling up my heart.

As I begin to walk homewards with a renewed heart.