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tomchap
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« on: April 22, 2007, 06:05:34 AM » |
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MAN IN THE MIST
The mist was thick and heavy and suspended in the air.
It shielded all the forest from the sunlight's hard harsh glare.
The mountain ash, like sentinels, were standing straight, and tall;
The ferns provided, on the ground, a green protective shawl.
A muddy mountain road was fading upwards out of sight;
It disappeared from view where further on the mist was white.
Then, faint at first, a darker form was slowly taking shape
'Till horse and rider, clearly seen, emerged from that cloudscape.
The horse was wet with misty rain and walked with measured tread,
The rider wrapped in Drizabone, Akubra covered head.
The picture of that mountain man astride his trusted bay
Portrayed a close relationship. I saw it well that day.
Man and beast both moved as one and gently passing by
The rider looked in my direction, briefly caught my eye.
The vaguest nod of recognition shown and then gone soon.
They showed no sense of urgency that quiet afternoon
Where had he been? I could not tell. His destination too
Was undetermined as he faded slowly out of view.
Our lives, 'though vastly different, were destined, on that day,
To touch, however briefly, on that muddy mountain way.
I sometimes see those tall white gums and ferns when I'm at rest,
I think of Shipley village in the mountains to the west,
And then amid the misty scene of figures passing by
The vision of that mountain horseman simply will not die.
A thread of private thought will often drift into my mind
Of imprints, on the lives of others, I have left behind.
May I not be a stumbling block in word or action's gist
But rather bringing peace and love, a figure in the mist.
Copyright © April 2007 Tom Chapman
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