Respite

I stand here quietly, not moving in the middle of this smooth stream flow, listening to the water drift beneath the overhanging canopy of young and ancient trees, and to the many birds singing high and clear, the resonance of their different melodies wandering through this peaceful place of momentary refuge, echoing off the valley walls and stone boulders, sounding sometimes as if they came from very far away, even from a different time than this, their gentle songs generating soft waves of light that glide down through the centuries, finally coming to this place to embrace me now.