I.
Down in the valley (the cupped hands
of the Earth), a black-and-white wonder,
a cormorant giving way to song.

I, a simple valley-dweller, have come
to know the vast secrets of being.
Here, in the warm embrace of creation,
surrounded on all sides by Eternal Artistry,
I sleep soundly and infinitely.

Rising out of the valley (cupped hands
send their blessing), the cormorant
flies to the Other World, her people to save.

II.
I never get tired of looking at the sky,
that glassy lake with an endless cavalry
of white horses racing across it.

Ommadawn flows gently into my ears.
The wind caresses every inch of me,
as if I were its lover.
The sun shares a warm embrace.

In this way, I become a part of everything.

III.
The sky clouds over and the sun becomes a day moon.

I am almost there, that feeling
somewhere between utter melancholy
and I-just-want-to-fly.

IV.
Falcon embraces the sun.
The cactus owl sleeps.

V.
As I watch crabs roam around on the sand,
a she-duck comes to me,
weary and heavy-eyed.
She lays by my feet, head buried in mottled feathers.

The waves sweep the crabs away.

VI.
All the fallen angels sing in a deceptively sweet voice.
Sheep graze far from the flock,
hungering for the honey-grass that is offered to them.

Lamb chops, anyone?