it has been written
in one of the book s of nikki…
if you look into a mirror
you’ll see a beautiful creature
looking back at you…
it is assumed
that in the reality
of nature there are both
beauty and ugliness
and that both
are at the interpretation
of the eyes of the beholder…
behold—beneath the epidemic
shadowing—the risen sun
brightly spreading its grandeur
over the graveyard silence
of terrestrial beings…
broken only by the piercing echoes
of a flying flock of birds
overhead in rhythmic v-formation
thus shattering the otherwise anechoic
atmosphere that the imposed ensconcing
has placed upon all of nature’s humanity…
unlike nature’s storms—tornados, hurricanes,
tsunamis—& quaking earth, the present
enormity of pandemic devastation is not physical
seen or heard—only felt in the daily rise
in our human death toll…rising to its apex curving…
yet…through verandah blinds…can be seen
happy wasp building their nest…red-breasted
birds hop-scotching the greening grass
through which scurrying squirrels dash
as they eagerly elevator themselves
from tree to tree…blinking waving smiles…
in the midst of the ugliness
that loneliness and fear can bring
in the shadow of death
nature has her way of infusing serene
beauty impregnating thanksgiving prayers
of another day of being perpendicular
to her cosmic presence…generating
shaded memory of the mourning
at the crucifixion...transforming
into exuberant joy and exhilaration
of the resurrection…
proving that this tormenting time too…
shall soon passover…
leaving blood-stained memories
of overcoming—returning
to the remaining struggle
for justice…equality…peace…love…