A dedication to Gaia / Mother Earth

       Mighty River
You start in mountains,
high, small, clear and fresh;
of heavens born,
collected by leaves and grass,
trickle down in streamlets,
sunburst in the morn.


Miles you go, vast places
of trees unknown, mountains,
hills hardly climbed.
Wildlife greets you, livestock too;
fields and orchards on your banks,
fruits there grow, grapes envined.


Weeks later many waters mixed,
darkening as you go,
heavy, slowly, toiled
at city shores, banks
confined, stories told,
not far to go, dusty, soiled.


But at the Sea
you breathe anew!
Fresh winds, cold waters flow,
sweet and salt do blend.
To the open Oceans, a World
to meet, vast skies, no end!!


Blue and Sun,
night and stars,
fog and cloud do greet you.
Slowly rising, air and wind,
roiling, salt to sweet,
steamy vapours flew.


Rising high, vast banks
and thunder castles
move now over desert sand.
Days go by, hills and
mountains you may meet
in mist and rain you may land.


To start again
a morning bright as dew;
a deer eye's twinkle;
quiet marshland cattails, warmed by Sun they grew.
Placid streams trickle slow;
a long hot day.
Eons travelled, far to go!


       Felix Scharnberg