Together

For Joanella

Together we shall walk

And be awake

To nature’s pristine lines.

I stop and lean

Upon your outstretched arm.

Your hand is warm

Against my too-cold skin.

Because we can –

Because there is no rush

To leave the wish

Of silence which we feel –

We stay here, still,

For just a moment more

Before we move.

And in that second’s pause,

We see each piece

Of nature’s strange design:

Fierce, mystic sun;

Colossal, open skies;

And Earth, whose human scars

Will one day heal

Themselves. “We are made whole,”

You say, and as

You speak, I see what is.

Words break the spell;

And so, time spills

Towards us, having stopped.

We take a step.