Longing: A Poem

Longing

by Jason Clark

The city recedes into the rear-view mirror,

a hushed echo of life left behind.

My soul stretches toward the cathedral of nature,

where trees rise like sacred columns,

and the sky arches – a hallowed roof over my path.

This is a pilgrimage in which the trail is the teacher,

each step a rosary bead,

whispering mysteries of stone and wind.

My longing to see where waters weep

and willows standing watch in silence – is more than I can bear.

With faltering steps, as if on a pilgrimage for mercy,

I bow my head to the heights with their crowns and to the meadows with their velvet,

and here, where earth gathers me to her bosom,

in every leaf and every root I discover

the holy site I was searching for,

an altar prepared by God.