hiking – The Writings of Tom Grasso

Winds announce the coming freeze,
There is a rustling among the trees,
Their leaves now old, about to fall,
Will always answer nature’s call.

Man now grown, forgot the sound,
Tone deaf to life around,
Nothing more than a fearful child,
Ignoring calls to walk the wild.

Yet he who came to Nature’s breast,
Would love the fierce, ignore the rest,
When Winter comes his footprints know,
He was born to leave them in the snow.

The Autumn seeks to end his youth,
Turn what was young to aged truth,
Still he rises to walk some more,
And forget the path he’s walked before.

Alone he’ll sleep under the stars,
Dream of love that’s healed his scars,
He’ll love the places still in pain,
And know his Soul in Autumn rain.

It was in the Autumn he saw the end,
As Winter waited around the bend,
But now he smiles at what he sees,
For he’s just a leaf among the trees.

~Tom Grasso (25 Sept 2020)

Sometimes I am sad, and I don’t know why. Sometimes I see things coming that aren’t really there. Sometimes I see threats in the shadows where none exist. Sometimes I fear falling even when I am on stable ground.

And I don’t know why.

Sometimes I am sad and I know exactly why. Sometimes I see things coming that are really there, even when I deny their existence. Sometimes things in the shadows reach out and bite me. Sometimes even the most stable of ground crumbles beneath my feet.

And I don’t know why.

Sometimes I don’t know or understand why life has been so challenging. Sometimes I falter, and I hit the ground hard. Sometimes I sin, and don’t know who to ask for forgiveness. Sometimes I can hear angels crashing into the windows just outside my bedroom door.

And I don’t know why.

Sometimes life shows me why I have been so challenged. Sometimes I rise after the hardest fall. Sometimes I forgive myself and seek penance in mending my open wounds. Sometimes I care for angels with broken wings so that they may fly away.

And I don’t know why.

Sometimes the echoes in my life become too great to bear. Sometimes tears soak me to the bone and the chill of the air around me steals my breath away. Sometimes I feel utterly alone.

And I don’t know why.

Sometimes I welcome the silence and seek the emptiness. Sometimes tears wash away my fear and gift me a blessed renewal. Sometimes I find warmth in a heartfelt embrace. Sometimes I need to be alone.

And I don’t know why.

I don’t know why about a lot of things. But I will wipe away the tears and brush the dust off my wounded self just to seek a smile in the wilderness. I will find a way to climb the stones and love the mud just to view the gates of heaven. I will seek the answers and know the truths if just to gain one more breath. I will survive because I have found no other choice.

And I don’t know why.

Tag: hiking

The Winter is Coming (A Poem)

And I Don’t Know Why