A Clearing in the Wood
By William McMahon
Our natives made their clearing in the woods.
Our pilgrims made a clearing for their good.
A rose bed is a clearing in the lawn,
and sunrise is that clearing we call dawn.
A cup must have its clearing on the shelf,
and what,pray tell,can be our own true self,
except a fragile clearing of the light
in a universe of cold and darkest night.
So,when Christmastime and Easter come each year
if each of us will listen,each will hear
the hidden footfall of the greater good,
where each has made a clearing in the wood.