Have you ever been so dazzled by the wind in the trees

That the voice of your friend chatting about last night’s dinner

Seems muffled and small

Remote and distant.

Is she really there at all?

Or so enchanted by the birds at the feeder 

That the whine of that leaf blower next door

Evaporates into the air

As sparrows and finches arrive, you consider each one

Wondering where they have spent the winter

You waiting just here for their sunrise chorus.

Or so awe-struck by the sweep of afternoon’s clouds

That you go hurtling over a large stone and

Find yourself face down in the sand 

At the edge of the ocean

Eye-to-eye with the sandpipers 

Scampering around you

A giant in Gulliver’s world.

That you lie there for a just moment

At rest in the magic of it all

Capturing your breath

As the sea brings another wave

Leaving you mystified by the power 

And the wisdom of the tides.