Talkin Tarn

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better” (Albert Einstein)

A silver sliver of light from afar. Reflected branches become Japanese willow trees. At dusk, distant clumps of trees beg for attention with the leaves of those nearby playing a role that depends on the season – spring’s green canopies or autumn’s crinkle-cut pathways. I’m reminded of Affinity by RS Thomas.

Consider this man in the field beneath,

Gaitered with mud, lost in his own breath,

Without joy, without sorrow,

Without children, without wife,

Stumbling insensitively from furrow to furrow,

A vague somnambulist; but hold your tears,

For his name also is written in the Book of Life.

Ransack your brainbox, pull out the drawers

That rot in your heart's dust, and what have you to give

To enrich his spirit or the way he lives?

From the standpoint of education or caste or creed

Is there anything to show that your essential need

Is less than his, who has the world for church,

And stands bare-headed in the woods’ wide porch

Morning and evening to hear God's choir

Scatter their praises? Don't be taken in

By stinking garments or an aimless grin;

He also is human, and the same small star,

That lights you homeward, has inflamed his mind

With the old hunger, born of his kind.