to blaze bright, like the dawn

J and T

here on this island of rock

waves of mountains surround us,

just as past and future center here

while we’re awake enough to notice,

the rock remembers all that has gone before:

the hope that brought it high,

time that brought it down,

and now back up again to accept and endure,

the forest celebrates what can be

with needle and trunk and leaf and flower, all fully in the moment,

while also remembering what has gone before

and made them what they are,

the forest reaches to the future

so that every day that will come

will be as full of growth and beauty as the way allows,

as a new day dawns upon rock and forest,

a new day dawns upon us

and upon two gifts of the universe

who commit themselves to each other,

to the love they have found and made that will not be denied,

here at this sacred place we ask for them to feel

the blessings of earth and nature,

of ancestors and of those who will come after,

of that most basic drive to connect

and become more together than one can ever be alone,

may their unity endure like the mountain,

create like the forest,

and blaze bright like every new dawn on every new day.

by Henry H. Walker, August 4, 2013