My Place In The Universe (Goes with Picture Post Below)

My love for the place I've been posting pictures of is so strong, it beckoned me to write a poem about it. I was further motivated by a picture on my wall of our canoe at sunset, beached on the shore with the paddle sitting in a position that was just begging me to grab hold and slip out in it! (More pictures can be seen in the post below this one.)

My Place in the Universe

It is here in this valley by the river that I feel most alive.

This place lives in my head and heart.

It has carved its own space there over time and transcended my soul.

Even my canoe, that has travelled widely,

is at home only here on the rocky shores of the Dumoine River.

At the last possible moment before sunset, it beckons me

and I must go quickly

for I can not deny its wish

to slip silently through the still evening waters.

Almost soundlessly, I climb into my canoe,

echoing briefly from the hills along the far shore.

With calm power I cut cleanly the mirrored glass

with the blade of my paddle.

A running line of droplets drips in succession

as I lift its tip between strokes.

An extension of my self,

my canoe and I are propelled as one,

the sun sinking swiftly below the horizon,

a lonely loon crying forlornly for its mate,

and we hear its call.

I do not own this place.

No mortgage, no deed, no legal transaction

binds me to this piece of property.

I have no hold on it - but it has a hold on me.

No surveyed boundaries could ever define my attachment yet,

it has shared its charm with many.

Several have visited this very same spot.

It has had numerous owners,

some who even profess to love it as I do.

They have fished, swam, and canoed its clear cool waters,

hiked the same steep winding trails,

eaten meals at the long cook camp table,

slept in the same cots of the sleep camp cabin,

But I, I sing here!

I gaze with wonder

at the flickering northern lights and shooting stars.

My whole being dances here!

I cry at the pure and simple beauty of it all.

It is only a tiny spot in the universe,

but its spirit is my spirit.

And so powerfully does it connect me to the Creator

and all of Creation,

that,

for the time I am here,

it is mine alone -

My place in the Universe.

Mother of Invention, looking forward to my annual trek, this Saturday!