nourishing my body
with brown bread and green tea
nurturing my soul
with the stately silhouettes of aged pines
among the maze of neighboring oak, locust and sycamore
tree branches
reaching out, touching, weaving
an intricate web of bare bushes nearer the earth
breathing their own rhythm
ever-green groundcover intertwined
with crispy dried brown leaves crunching greetings
as squirrels scurry and scamper about hiding their treasures
myriad feathered friends seeding themselves
on the dancing feeders
unseen deer moving from prairie beds
to chortling creek waters...
my eyes,
my heart,
my spirit
feast on these blessings of the last morning
of the 20th century.