The Leaf by Charles Lucas
From the west, a dry cold wind blew across the barren steppes, in the land of the mountains.
To the east, thrust from the plains of thorns and rock strewn moraines wondrous peaks rose whose foundation lay in the eternal. Their sheer eminence was rivaled only by the heavens they touched.
Covered in a sea of a thousand shades of emerald, accented by the rainbow swaths of wildflowers, the foothills and its meadows were a soft beauty, a prelude to a harsh majesty.
Receding glaciers and fields of snow gave birth to rivers and their tributaries.
Fingers of molten crystal flowed through the creases of the hills. The burden of their life force was lightened by their nourishing of the land.
Tender hands of the wind caused waves among the tall grasses, then returned to lace through the trees.
The clop of hooves from the wild Ibex could be heard in the crags above. Its echo receded through the deep valleys.
In the meadows, deer and their fawns fed on the leaves of stout oaks that stood as silent sentinels contemplating the handiwork of the earth.
The lark, whose song announced its presents, made its home in the branches.
At times their leaves floated down into the moving waters.
Tumbling in the currents their colors magnified in the sunlight.
Elusive snow leopards slacked their thirst in the waters.
Their coats blending into their kindred terrain, then vanished, like a questioned memory.
The fowl of the air nested in the soaring cliffs that were clothed in a patina of lichen and moss, their crevasses sculpted by the ancient of days.
Birds of prey flew among the clouds of vaporous chariots,
whose shadows swept across the valleys floor.
The moon measured the seasons; the sun gave life in its manifold form.
The diaphanous air glistening with orbs of light, infused the living with an ebullience of its own design,
and the leaf tumbled, through the crystalline waters, on its sojourn to the sea.
The Lake by Charles Lucas
Soaring with towering columns of clouds, a falcon, endowed with a discerning gaze, born to witness the unfolding scenes of harmonious moments.
From the crown of a waving curtain of purple cliffs, silver ribbons of water fall, creating halos of luminous mist, while arcing strokes of suspended colors fade into the air.
The descending water ministers a glacial lake were mansions of white ice thrust from its still waters. To the falcon it appears as if a turquoise tear drop, flicked from nature’s eyelash, has splashed onto the floor of a wondrous abyss.
The mirrored surface of the lake reflects the beatific and so calm that only the long angled feet of insects could cause a wrinkle.
A heron stands in the shallows near its crescent shore, its legs mimic the cattails and reeds. Golden carp flare their iridescence through a garden of ivory lotus blossoms floating as votive flames.
As the shadow of the falcon skims across the lake an otter slips into the water with barely a sound or wave, then moments later surfaces and floats on its back, its wet fur glistens in the sunlight, onyx claws clutch a precious shell to its snowy chest and then in an elegant sudden twist disappears, leaving only echoing rings rippling on the water.
The roots of willow trees embrace the bank to lean quietly over the water, as if listening to the whispers of the moments. Their long serpentine branches swaying in the subtle breeze, brush twirling furrows into the water.
Perched on its branch a kingfisher’s sharp warble pierces the air. Waiting on its prey, prepared to strike, only its peaked crown of shades of blue twitch in its search.
With lingering currents of air under its wings the falcon hovers above the lake to peer within its chambers.
Within the clear water a tortoise slowly streams. With its head extended from its oval shell, the ponderous rhythm of its legs sends it gliding gently through the water. Undulating kelp beckon for its presents, their floating touch caresses its passing shell.
A swan hidden in the cattails and reeds, floats into view. Dragon flies dart among them, the swift beat of their wings appear as stillness, their soft drones blend with the wafting air. The brilliant white of the swans feathers with the black accents of her queenly face, contrast with the colorful scene she has entered and speak of her regal distinction.
As the gracious hands of the currents lift the falcon the arc of the horizon reveals its splendor.
As if poised on an ocean of shimmering mist the mountains appear as apparitions of a vision yet realized, their beauty and presents reigns in the realm of silence beyond our simple comprehension.
These moments of mingling sounds and colors, the affects of the wind, the subtle touch of hardened stone, the silent ebb and flow of all things, the voices of her coalescent way, with the falcon and all of natures creatures as her witness, to watch, to be, in the unfolding scenes of her sacred heart.
Soaring with towering columns of clouds, a falcon, endowed with a discerning gaze, born to witness the unfolding scenes of harmonious moments.
From the crown of a waving curtain of purple cliffs, silver ribbons of water fall, creating halos of luminous mist, while arcing strokes of suspended colors fade into the air.
The descending water ministers a glacial lake were mansions of white ice thrust from its still waters. To the falcon it appears as if a turquoise tear drop, flicked from nature’s eyelash, has splashed onto the floor of a wondrous abyss.
The mirrored surface of the lake reflects the beatific and so calm that only the long angled feet of insects could cause a wrinkle.
A heron stands in the shallows near its crescent shore, its legs mimic the cattails and reeds. Golden carp flare their iridescence through a garden of ivory lotus blossoms floating as votive flames.
As the shadow of the falcon skims across the lake an otter slips into the water with barely a sound or wave, then moments later surfaces and floats on its back, its wet fur glistens in the sunlight, onyx claws clutch a precious shell to its snowy chest and then in an elegant sudden twist disappears, leaving only echoing rings rippling on the water.
The roots of willow trees embrace the bank to lean quietly over the water, as if listening to the whispers of the moments. Their long serpentine branches swaying in the subtle breeze, brush twirling furrows into the water.
Perched on its branch a kingfisher’s sharp warble pierces the air. Waiting on its prey, prepared to strike, only its peaked crown of shades of blue twitch in its search.
With lingering currents of air under its wings the falcon hovers above the lake to peer within its chambers.
Within the clear water a tortoise slowly streams. With its head extended from its oval shell, the ponderous rhythm of its legs sends it gliding gently through the water. Undulating kelp beckon for its presents, their floating touch caresses its passing shell.
A swan hidden in the cattails and reeds, floats into view. Dragon flies dart among them, the swift beat of their wings appear as stillness, their soft drones blend with the wafting air. The brilliant white of the swans feathers with the black accents of her queenly face, contrast with the colorful scene she has entered and speak of her regal distinction.
As the gracious hands of the currents lift the falcon the arc of the horizon reveals its splendor.
As if poised on an ocean of shimmering mist the mountains appear as apparitions of a vision yet realized, their beauty and presents reigns in the realm of silence beyond our simple comprehension.
These moments of mingling sounds and colors, the affects of the wind, the subtle touch of hardened stone, the silent ebb and flow of all things, the voices of her coalescent way, with the falcon and all of natures creatures as her witness, to watch, to be, in the unfolding scenes of her sacred heart.