Ancient Child of the Valley She walks in beauty, like the night,Of, cloudless climes, and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and bright,Meet, within her aspect and her eyes.An abiding sparkle which never dies,The light inside all, shining through.In darkest night, still bedazzles me,In silence yet alluringly calls to me,In shadow, she yet illuminates me,In silence she beckons me onward,In ignorance knows all about me,In seclusion all that much closer.Down the way none can follow,To a destination, yet unknown,The Mother of All is she alone,The void, of all our ignorance,She with the warped humor:Warming my heart dancing.Hold me closer tiny dancer,But oh how it feels so real,Lying here with none near,Just wishing you were here.You alone, may yet hear me,Dancing forever in my heart,Within shadows in my mind;Within the song, in my heart,Still singing your sweet song.Still imploring me to join you!Still serenading, oh so sweetly!Still deliciously comforting me!Silent siren voice, of all dreams!Yet seducing me for all my days!Beckoning, from so far and near;Comforting me, in my nightmare!Calling out to me in some dreams!Beckoning me, from inside hearts!Beckoning to me, yet shyly hiding!Shadow dancer yet serenading me!Careful, to still gain my attention!Giggling from under your blankets!Tenderly teasing me, oh so sweetly!Reminding me of what love can be!Reminding me of what's important.Mama is by far, the most beautiful,Mama's love is eternally irresistible,Mama's infinite bounty astounding,Her sense of humor, being equivocal!She with the warped sense of humor;She who makes all our lives, possible.She God adores with his softest light!She who all recognize as their mother!She alone dances within lonely hearts!She alone, never abandons us all alone!She alone knows, how to minister to us,Sparkles, within richest velvet darkness;Lilting laughter lost on distant horizons,Lingering in my mind like a familiar song,Languidly reposed as if a feather in midair!Lightest of breath gently anoints the flames!Lovingly kindling eternal providential flames!Lingering shadows, gently stirring fading light!Luxuriating in their freedom, on the rock of ages!Lightly singing any words, she's humming the tune!Lighter than air, she dances to her unchained melody!Laughingly tossing her head she, yet, kicks up her heals!Lightness of all shadows promenade upon the far horizon!The phoenix arising from the ashes, to be reborn anew again!Permitting, the blind and the deaf,To both see and hear what matters,To know what everyone else knows,To still feel, what everyone else feels.Being aware, of our mortal fallibility,We laugh like Santa, at the silly elves,Or giggle, as if the smallest of children!Falling over ourselves and one another!Laughingly tripping, over our own feet!Disinterested in following Babylonians!Disinterested, in fighting all of the time!Disinterested, in playing with semantics!Disinterested, in mere wealth and power!Meandering the path laid down long ago,By the most ancient children of our earth!Using deliciously lightest, of all footsteps!Knowing we may only ever know nothing!Hand in hand enjoying the companionship,Hand in hand, pulling each other up again,Hand in hand, helping one another balance.Hand in hand some falling down gracefully,Lost somewhere, deep in the memory of God;Far below the deepest of blue event horizons!Way beyond all of the lost boys in Neverland,Somewhere, over a colorful far flung rainbow;Immersing ourselves in the mother of all voids!Half the world knows her, as the mother of all!The Void from whence all the good things come;Uncertain as to where either might begin or end,Uncertain if there actually is a beginning or end!Uncertain where, our own uncertainty could end!Only that our journey appears to be never-ending!Walking through the woods upon a beautiful day,The path knows our feet as my feet know the way,Motes of sparkling air, within lightness of gravity;Not a care in the world, simply out for a nice walk,Merely enjoying the weather and stretching my legs.Whereupon taking the fork in the road less traveled,As if a child, mama casually brought me to my knees,Gracing me with a glimpse of her bounteous splendor.Parading for my pleasure, all the love she has to offer!Passionately cajoling me, into partaking in her revelry!Inviting me to indulge myself to my own heart's desire!The most revered virgin valley, all spread out before me,Neverending life overwhelming me with noisy greetings!Embracing me as if I were their adored long lost relative,Imploring me to come in, and join in all their celebrations!Welcoming me in their home as if they rarely had company!Delicious laughter fading, echoing, lilting in the far distance.She, the most illustrious ancient child, of the great fertile valley.(George Byron, Elton John, Washington National Forest)
The George Washington National Forest is an enormously long valley almost the entire length of the state of West Virginia which the Native Americans called the "Great Virgin". Its not particularly wide or anything, but looking down its length it merely vanishes into the distance and, while rain forests have more diversity of life, deciduous forests like this one have more life per square foot. This poem expresses my own personal experiences as a child including seeing the valley for the first time.
