Layers

Fall leaves, crunchy and fragrant beneath my feet,

crisp blue sky, diffused sunlight extending our shadows behind us,
salty, living water, lapping and beating as gulls call and sing.

     Flowering trees shading a swath of pavement,

     intense sun and heated breeze,
     movement, motorcycles, multitudes,

     and many around my table, hungry for love more than rice.

Time for walks and questions and song,

silence and praise and dancing alone, in the dark, with You.

     Time to work, to give, to push a little further,
     to dig deeper, to see me as You do

     and to see them, hear them, find You in them.

Infinite possibilities, revealed in each layer,
peeled back, one-by-one, in active silence.

You in each layer, You at the center,

You the beginning of the journey and at the End.

You there, and here; then and now...
and everywhere.