this wonderful world
I watch the white slashes of gulls
queuing like children in line
wings beating
beaks prodding
pulling fat worms
from the newly ploughed field beyond
this wonderful world
I listen to the stillness of the night
while bats sweep and glide
black shadows
an eerie contrast
slammed against the backdrop
of the harvest moon
this wonderful world
I hear the lowing of the cows
at milking time
their heavy udders
giving way
to the suck – suck - sucking
of the milking machines
this wonderful world
I close my eyes and feel
the calmness of the sea yonder
just over the hill from where I sit
while the seals bathe and slide
over the rocky outcrops
dark silken stumps
piercing the waters
as the pools empty and fill -
empty and fill
in motion
with the ebb and flow
of the moon tide
this wonderful world
we can never match her offerings
nor recognise her sufferings -
this wonderful world
she it is
who gives us
all that we need
Penny Hemans
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/this-wonderful-world/
